Your Sewer Responsibility

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ENV is working with communities, one-by-one around the island, to keep residential runoff out of the sewers. Smoke testing looks for leaky pipes and other places where rainwater may be entering City sewer lines.

Where smoke comes out, water can come into the sewer system.

Of the 7500+ private properties tested so far, about seven percent have leaks, faulty pipes, missing cleanout caps or illegal connections to sewer lines. The good news is that a majority of the problems identified are easy and inexpensive to fix. A cleanout cap, the most common culprit, costs about $7 and is sold at most hardware stores.

While this may not seem like much, the amount of excess water coming into the system adds up. Studies show, about half of the water processed at treatment plants comes from residential properties.

ENV is determined to identify properties island-wide that have inflow problems and to notify owners of the action required to resolve the problems. ENV workers first test areas most prone to wet weather flooding. Residents get a letter from the City in the mail two weeks before the smoke testing begins, and a door hanger on homes a week before the testing.