5 Things to Know About Royal Oak Sewer Maintenance

Royal Oak, MI — Toilets could gurgle and tap water could be temporarily brown or cloudy as the city’s regularly scheduled sewer maintenance begins Monday in the northwest part of the city.

The program will continue through May of next year. It will be be suspended during the winter months from December through April, the city said in a news release.

The project includes sewer cleaning, televising and root treatment to make sure Royal Oak sewers are functioning properly.
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The area affected is bounded by Greenfield, Coolidge, 14 Mile Road and Webster, where residents can expect to see city of Royal Oak contractors — United Resource of Livonia and Duke’s Root Control of Syracuse, NY — accessing manholes located within existing back yard easements and public right-of-ways.

Affected residents living in this area with manholes in their back yard have been sent notices from Royal Oak Community Development explaining the project, and door-hanger notification will be sent at least 24 hours before sewer cleaning and television work begin on their streets.

Here are five things you should know about sewer cleaning:

When the work will be done: Work will take place Monday through Saturday between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. No work will occur on Sundays, or during the temporary December-April suspension of work activities.

The contractor may need to access your property: If manholes are located in the back or side yards, crews will need to move equipment  — such as hoses, ladders and cameras — onto properties. Contractors will not need to enter homes.

Toilets may gurgle: Occasionally during the sewer cleaning process, toilets gurgle and splash, an indicator the property owner may have a maintenance problem of some sort, such as a plugged vent stack. Should your toilet splash, the water is coming out of your toilet p-trap and is not coming from the main public sewer system. If you smell any foul odor, please add or refill water to all floor drain, sinks or bathtub to trap sewer gases from entering your home.

Running water may look brown or cloudy: Contractors are authorized to use city water directly out of fire hydrants as needed. Doing so can stir up the fine layer of harmless sediment on the bottom of clean drinkable water lines. This natural sediment may temporarily cause discoloration of running water. Allowing your water to settle for one to two hours with minimum use and then running it for one to two minutes should clear any discoloration. Discolored clean tap water is not contaminated with sewer water. The authorized fire hydrants to be used for this project were carefully selected by the engineering division and are mostly located near public parks so most likely you will not be affected by water discoloration.

Most residents won’t notice any problems: A majority of residents will not experience any issues during the sewer maintenance program. At most properties the work takes less than four days to complete.

Questions may be directed to the Royal Oak Engineering Division at (248) 246-3260.

Image credit: City of Urbana