Rehabilitation of Wastewater Collection and Water Distribution ...

From house to mainline
excluding tap
9 agencies (15.5% )
1 agency (1.7%)
Definition varies
within same agency
From house to mainline
including tap
23 agencies (39.7%)
25 agencies (43.1%)
From house to property line
Figure 1. Private Ownership of Sewer Laterals (WERF, 2006)
Even when municipalities conclude that their sewer laterals present a problem that should be addressed in
a systematic fashion, there is often a reluctance to move ahead. Dealing with private property owners
over sewer lateral repair is a difficult issue. Since most private property owners have no idea of the
condition of their sewers, they will see little or no direct benefit from the repair; and the rehabilitation
costs are usually significant. Linked to the legal issues of who owns which portion of the lateral, who
should pay, etc. are also questions of legal right of access to the private property for inspection and repair
work and legal liability for accidents during inspection or repair work. As with the issue of laterals
ownership, there are many ways in which this is currently handled as well as many opinions on how it
should be handled in the future. Some key issues/options regarding legal and liability matters are:
• Some states prohibit spending public money for private gain (i.e., improving private
property by paying for rehabilitation of private laterals). This issue has been addressed
successfully in the courts by arguing that the private gain is only incidental to a larger
public gain from the reduction in sewer overflows and from savings in sewage treatment
costs.
• Many municipalities consider taking any additional responsibility for private sewer
laterals as a major concern in terms of additional work and public liaison. Other
municipalities are more proactive – seeing themselves as being in the best position to do
something about lateral problems by providing homeowner-friendly programs even if
they do not take financial responsibility for the work.
• Gaining the political will to force homeowners to comply is often an issue with elected
city councils who have to approve the program.
Dealing with sewer laterals in a comprehensive manner can be an expensive undertaking, both for a
municipality and for the private property owners involved. The first step is to determine whether a
laterals program is justified from the cost-effectiveness perspective, although it can also be argued that a
tight and properly functioning sewer system is not just a question of cost-effectiveness of treatment
savings versus rehabilitation costs, but that it is required for a good, healthy urban environment. A first
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