The Sewer Maintenance Department of the Richmond Sanitary District provides, not only a service to our community in times of emergencies, but also as a protectant of our environment. With over 250 miles of sanitary, storm and combined sewers in our city, maintenance and continual upgrade of the system is necessary to provide the longest life possible of the sewers.

The Sewer Maintenance Department receives calls daily from customers ranging from sewer odor calls to basement flooding and slow running drains to possible street cave-ins. When a customer calls in with a complaint a crewman is sent to the location to identify the problem.

If an individual is having an odor problem or slow running drains, a crewman can check inside the manhole over the city sewer to see if there is a possible blockage in the sewer.

In the event a problem is found in the sewer, a combination unit, or flush truck, is called to the scene. This truck uses a high-pressure hose to jet up the sewer line to extract any restriction causing a back up or clean the line of heavy odor smell. In many instances, simply pouring a deodorizer in the manhole will correct unpleasant smells that may be coming inside the home from the sewer. Unfortunately, many problems a customer may have are in their own service connection. This is the pipe from the home that carries wastewater from the home to the city sewer. In this event, a private sewer service will need to be called in to “eel” out their line. Before going to this expense please contact us at 765-983-7465 from 6:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. or 765-983-7450 anytime, we will make sure there is no problem with the city sewer. Richmond Sanitary District’s trained staff is also called upon to repair broken sewer pipes, replace worn out manhole covers and resurface construction repairs.

The Richmond Sanitary District is currently involved in a ten year Master Plan that has identified many problems in the sewer system and is already correcting many of these issues. This will be a slow process with the ultimate goal of relieving many of the flooding problems residents have experienced over the years when heavy rainfalls occur.

If you have any questions related to these issues, feel free to contact us at 765-983-7465 Monday through Friday, 6:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. or for after hours please call 765-983-7450.