Sewage Backups in Your Basement
Sewage backups into your home, business, or other buildings can occur during heavy rains in areas served by either combined or sanitary sewer lines. Backups can also occur during dry weather when there are debris blockages in the lines.
For many years, affected property owners and tenants were responsible for the cleanup and the damages caused by these sewage backups.
In January 2004, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) launched a Sewer Backup Response Program (SBU) to accomplish two things: response to sewage backups in the MSD service area and prevention of chronic sewer backups.
MSD's SBU program, formerly known as Water-In-Basement, was the first of its kind in the country. It provides:
- Cleanup and damage claims assistance to MSD customers experiencing a sewage backup resulting from the public sewer. This kind of backup usually occurs in basement floor drains or in bathtubs in homes without basements.
- Construction of back-up solutions to qualifying homes with a history of sewer backups.
MSD receives about 3,000-plus calls a year about potential sewage backups. Many of these calls are actually about storm water entering basements through window wells or cracks, or, about sewage backups from toilets and sinks that are related to household maintenance issues.
For more information, visit call.msdgc.org or call (513) 352-4900 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Also, if you would like to receive an email notification whenever a quarter or more inches of rain is predicted in the next 24 hours, subscribe to our Public Notification mailing lists.
