Keep the Sewers from Backing up and Polluting our Homes and Neighborhoods

During a recent rain storm, Leucadia Wastewater District’s field crew observed a pump and hose set up by a resident in the front yard of their home discharging storm water directly into their sewer lateral clean out pipe. While it might seem harmless, actions like this can cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to property, and potentially create a public health risk.

In the City of Encinitas, the public sewer system and storm drain system are separate systems with different connected pipelines. By design, our public sewer system is not designed to handle both sewage and heavy rainwater flows. We experience “peak flows” – usually early in the morning when everyone is getting ready for work and school, and the evening when people are getting home, making dinner, and showering. While the sewer system is designed to handle “peak flows” of sewage with some room to spare, adding heavy and unplanned rainwater flows into our system has the potential to flood the pipes and cause a sewage overflow. When the pipes are full, sewage has nowhere to go but backwards into toilets and sinks, or up and out of manholes and onto the streets. Not only is this dangerous, it is a violation of our regulations and the City of Encinitas’ municipal code.

If you have an issue with water pooling on your property due to the grade of your driveway or lack of adequate drainage, please contact the City of Encinitas’ Engineering Department at 760.633.2770, or a general contractor for solutions.

Our Field Services Team works hard day in and day out, and we’re on call 24/7 to make sure the sewer system operates properly in order to prevent sewage spills. We appreciate your help by ensuring nothing goes down your sewer lateral clean out, drains, and toilets except for the 3 P’s – (toilet) paper, pee, and poop. If you have any questions please call Ian Riffel at the District office (760) 753-0155.