City obligated to provide sewer connection?

[bdog]

Not really rural living but wasn't sure where to post.

My father in law lives in a small house and there is another small house behind his so his property does not adjoin the alley. The city sewer line is in the alley. I suspect at one time both houses belonged to one person but now they are separately owned and they don't get along.

Evidently my FIL's sewer line runs through the other houses back yard and either ties into their sewer line or goes all the way through into the alley. These houses were built in the 40's I am guessing. Anyway he is having problems with his sewer not draining and he has replaced the pipe from his house to he fence with no help. The people in the other house won't let him do anything to try and fix it on their property.

He has asked for my help and I am wondering what his options are. Isn't the city obligated to provide him a connection point? He does live on the corner so maybe there is a line running along the street he could connect to?

 

[Sysop]

Layout similar to that kinda caused my Great Aunt some issues. Two houses built side by side in the 1920s by the same builder on the backs of the lots at the top of the hill. Later sold to two separate folk, one of which was my Great Grandmother. About the same time my Great Grandmother passed, the other house next door caught fire and was not repairable. The people who owned it, built in the lower portion of the lot. When they did, they cut off the sewage line from the old burned house on the hill, abandoned that line, and attached their new house.

Later it was learned that the two houses shared a single line down the hill to the city's main sewage line. This was learned a couple years later after the solids had packed the pipes full clear up into the house.

The city came and dug their line up and made a place for my Great Aunt to tap into, but it was up to her to have the 200' of line laid down the hill to it.

If it is like here, the city will provide a place to connect, but it is up to you to connect it. If it must cross someone else's property, you are responsible for all cleanup and rehab of the worksite, but they cannot stop it from being done.

Since the mishap there, and other similar issues in other parts of town, there is now an ordinance that doesn't allow new structures to tie into old lines leaving parts of the old lines abandoned. The proper way to do it is either Tee into it or have the city come set another connection point in their line.

As for are they obligated to provide a sewer connection? Not always (I would imagine this depends on your location). There are many places here locally that are surrounded by municipal services but must rely on maintaining their own septic system on their property. This is generally due to the lay of the land. S*** runs downhill.

I would say the first step is to contact the city and have them specify his connection point.

 

[Wagtail]

Sysop has it right. And, yes, it's the same situation even here in Aus.

I dreaded the possibility of my town running a water and sewage line out my road when they decided to pave. Thankfully they just put down bitumen because I would've been obliged to pay the hook-up costs from my house. And whether I hooked-up or not, my property rates would've increased because there was water & sewage available.

For years I always wondered why so many rural homes were built so close to a major road... now I know why. The cost to hook-up to, not only town water & sewage but power too, was prohibitive.

 

[Sysop]

For years I always wondered why so many rural homes were built so close to a major road... now I know why. The cost to hook-up to, not only town water & sewage but power too, was prohibitive.

Or in the case of my place, it's the trail my ancestors cut from the home site to the nearest fort. It was much later it became US Route 19.

 

[oosik]

Again, Sysop, has it right. The city may be required to provide a connection point at the main line, in the street. However, they ARE NOT required to provide access to that connection point. This can & does become a bloody mess when old city lots are further subdivided and dedicated easements are not required. This problem is not just for sewers - it applies to all utilities. And all easements are not necessarily meant for all types of utilities.

 

[EddieWalker]

Here in Tyler TX, the city will not touch or do anything to a sewer line once it's on private property. They are only responsible for what is under the street or sidewalk if there is one. For them to even come out to the house, you need to be able to prove to them that the obstruction is under the street. In my case, it had to be a licensed plumber with a snake in the pipe that they could measure and see where it hit the obstruction. Unfortunately for me, it was determined that the tree root blocking the pipe was on my side of the curb. After digging it out and seeing it, they where right.

Clay pipes where used and each section leaks just enough to attract tree roots. Eventually, a root was able to work its way into the pipe enough to cause buildup up that led to a very slow drain.

Most plumbers have tree cutting tips on their rooter machines. You will probably have to dig down to the pipe and remove it on your side of the property line, then have the plumber cut through whatever is in the way under your neighbors property. They do this all the time, it's not very hard, but it will cost a fortune if they have to do the digging.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Here in Tyler TX, the city will not touch or do anything to a sewer line once it's on private property. They are only responsible for what is under the street or sidewalk if there is one. For them to even come out to the house, you need to be able to prove to them that the obstruction is under the street. In my case, it had to be a licensed plumber with a snake in the pipe that they could measure and see where it hit the obstruction. Unfortunately for me, it was determined that the tree root blocking the pipe was on my side of the curb. After digging it out and seeing it, they where right.

Clay pipes where used and each section leaks just enough to attract tree roots. Eventually, a root was able to work its way into the pipe enough to cause buildup up that led to a very slow drain.

Most plumbers have tree cutting tips on their rooter machines. You will probably have to dig down to the pipe and remove it on your side of the property line, then have the plumber cut through whatever is in the way under your neighbors property. They do this all the time, it's not very hard, but it will cost a fortune if they have to do the digging.

Some years ago I had the inconvenience of a plugged sewer line. I measured to the blockage and it was at the city connection. I hand dug it up and the blockage was roots and in the city's right of way.

Weekend and I cleared it enough to use and then called the city. They told me that they would do their part the following week. I asked if they were going to use a back hoe and the guy said for sure. I asked him if he would allow someone to dig a hole in hit front yard with a backhoe. He told me the issue was the city's and leave it be.

I fixed it, backhoe in my front yard didn't work for me. What was interesting was the blockage. The neighbor's willow tree roots went through the connection size and shape of electrical tape. It was that thin. Once inside of the four inch city pipe it spread out to block the pipe for about two feet with roots shooting down another couple of feet after that. I was able to pull out the whole obstruction once I got access. It was pretty amazing, glue on coupling with a dry spot where a root could go through and then become a huge mass of roots.

In California the city dug up a sewer connection out front of my house. The blockage was similar but the roots were from a palm tree a quarter of a mile away. They said that wasn't unusual.

 

[davesl708]

One thing to consider is the line functioned until the neighbor cut the line and abandoned it.
The neighbor may have some responsibility for your problem. Speak with the agency responsible but the cost of the new line may have to be shared by the neighbor for disrupting your service.

 

[orezok]

I don't know what the legal ramifications are, but a line could be bored through the neighbors property without disturbing and surface improvements. Not cheap though.

 

[orezok]

Another thought is that since the line ran through the neighboring property for many years, there may be a prescriptive easement. It would take a law suit to perfect it, but then you might be able to make the neighbor replace the line he "damaged".