Water & Sewer: For Customers
Water
Customer Responsibilities
- Keep all vault lids and meters clear of vegetation for routine maintenance and emergency access.
- Keep meters clear of snow so that they may be easily located during line breaks in winter.
Water Leaks
Report signs of running water or other evidence of water flow to the Town. Due to ground heave and other effects of freezing conditions, winter is the period of highest risk for water line damage, but damage may occur at any time of year.
- Visible running water is generally due to breaks in the main lines, which will be repaired by the Town.
- Saturated ground - often an area that is noticeably wetter or greener than the surrounding lawn - is the most frequent sign of service line leakage. Service line breaks, which are more common than main line breaks, are the responsibility of the customer to detect and repair.
- Leaking toilets, another subtle and common source of increased consumer water bills, may be identified with the use of a simple dye test in the toilet tank.
Once repairs have been made, customers who face a higher bill due to a service line leak are encouraged to apply to the Town for an adjustment in sewer charges for that billing cycle. The application should be accompanied by invoices from a licensed plumbing contractor, or other documentation such as receipts in the case of direct repair.
Sewer
Customer Responsibilities
- Dispose of cooking grease, floss, and disposable wipes in the garbage. Grease clogs the wastewater system, causing backups in the main lines, and floss and wipes bind the rotating devices within the pumps. Repairing expensive damage from these items affects the Town’s ability to provide reasonable water rates for all of its customers.
- Take care when mowing around sewer cleanup caps in the front yard. Sudden jarring from a mower can damage the caps or even snap the pipe below.
- Cracked, damaged, or missing sewer cleanup caps must be reported to the Town as soon as possible. Damage to the caps allows surface water infiltration, which increases the load on the wastewater collection system. In addition, damaged caps are no longer able to prevent sewage overflow into the yard in the event of a backup. The town will provide a replacement cap at no cost.
- Customers who have grinder pumps within their home should notify the Town so that the Town may take appropriate measures with regards to sewer backups, and so that it may assist those customers in doing the same.
Sewer Backups
It is illegal to connect downspouts, roof drains, french drains, sump pumps, and other rainwater or groundwater control systems to the Town's wastewater system. During periods of heavy rain, these unlawful connections have the potential to exceed the wastewater system's collection capacity and flood homes with the combined stormwater and household wastewater.
Suspected sewer backups must be dealt with quickly to prevent the situation from developing into sewer overflow. Progressive signs of a household blockage include:
- Slow-flowing drains, gurgling noises after use, and/or unpleasant odors
- Water backup in the same fixture (secondary line blockage) or nearby fixtures (main line blockage)
Blockages or pipe damage in the home and within the line that connects it to the main municipal line are the responsibility of the homeowner to identify and repair. Blockages in major municipal lines will be remedied by the Town and should be reported immediately. Such a blockage may result in overflow at manholes, which is detectable as odors or water accumulating around these manholes.
Further information about what to do in the event of a sewer backup may be found in the Sewer Backup Response Packet. A hard copy of this is provided to residents by Town maintenance personnel when responding to sewer incident reports.