Public Information for Building Inspection Program

July- September 2011

Quick Jump Links

FAQs
Study Area Schedule

There are many ways to inspect a Sanitary Sewer System to determine defects and their locations. Among these are Smoke Testing, Dyed-Water Testing, and Closed-Circuit TV Inspections.

Frequently though, even these methods cannot conclusively locate every defect on private property.

In these cases, door-to-door surveys are performed. The goal of building surveys is to determine potential inflow and infiltration areas: breaks, cracks, or defects in the sewer line that might permit influx of stormwater into the sewer line.

Typically, a building survey team consists of two persons.

Special provisions are made to assure homeowners of the legitimacy of the survey and to communicate the importance of the information needed.

The building inspections for the City of Newport will be conducted by the City's contractor, CH2M HILL. The field crews will arrive in well-identified field vehicles and have ID badges.

Usually, a minimum of three attempts are made when an owner or occupant is not at home and it is apparent that the property contains a basement.

Subsequent attempts to survey are made on different days and at different times if possible. After three unsuccessful attempts, a door-hanger is left and follow-up telephone calls may be made. In general, such surveys proceed very smoothly!

A sump pump with a foundation drain emptying into it; a building survey team will attempt to determine whether the sump is emptying into the Sanitary Sewer System

Wastewater seeping up through a drain in the stairwell

FAQs

• What is a building inspection?
• Should I be concerned?
• How is my residence connected to the sanitary sewer system?
• What are you looking for?

What is a building inspection?

As you may have learned from the Smoke Test FAQ, knowing that there's a problem in the Sanitary Sewer System--a fault, flaw or defect that allows additional inflow into the system--is one thing.

Finding it is something else! One method of locating flaws is the smoke test, in which non-toxic smoke is introduced into the system and technicians carefully monitor where the smoke emerges from the ground.

Frequently, however, the smoke seems to vanish and doesn't emerge at all, or it emerges somewhere on private property--your residence, for example. This is where a Building Inspection comes in. Often the only way to identify a flaw in the sanitary sewer system is to physically inspect a dwelling to determine where the defect is.

Should I be concerned?

Actually, any defect in the sanitary sewer system is a cause for concern, not only due to the possibility of an influx of stormwater into the system, but also the possibility of allowing the escape of watewater and gas.

A sanitary sewer system typically contains chemicals and gases that can pose a significant danger.

For example, personnel working in manholes wear protective suits, and gas detectors continually monitor the manhole environment for the presence of hydrogen sulfide as well as other toxic gases.

Should there be a break or defect in the sewer line in or under your residence, wastewater and gas could enter your dwelling. That's why it's so important that the defects be identified and repaired!

And frequently, the only way such flaws can be correctly identified is for trained personnel to enter the residence and survey the structure.

How is my residence connected to the sanitary sewer system?

When a residence is built, a segment of pipe (a "service lateral") is laid to connect the residence's wastewater products-toilets, showers, sinks-to the sanitary sewer system.

Driveway drains, stairwell drains, foundation drains and sump pumps should not be connected to this service lateral, as these carry stormwater and not wastewater. However, it is frequently the case that when a house is built, these drains are routed into the service lateral.

These drains may also be routed to a building's sump pump, and instead of discharging the stormwater onto the ground, the sump pump discharges the stormwater into the service lateral. These types of defects are very common methods for wastewater and gas to find a way into the residence.

What are you looking for?

A typical residence may have several potential defects allowing stormwater to enter the sanitary sewer system. One such is pictured at left, a driveway drain.

If a connection between such a drain and the sanitary sewer system exists, it will usually be identified through smoke testing-field technicians will spot smoke escaping through the drain and mark the spot so that it can be repaired.

How are these drains connecting to the sanitary sewer system?

One very important factor to keep in mind is that there is a difference between a sanitary sewer system and a stormwater drainage system!

These are two seperate systems: a stormwater drainage system simply collects stormwater and shunts it elsewhere.

Organizations such as the EPA are not as concerned with stormwater as they are with the toxic chemicals present in a sanitary sewer system! Stormwater can be collected and released into the ground, where it will eventually return to the aquifer.

However, a sanitary sewer system must be a "closed" system--wastewater and the chemicals it contains cannot be released onto the ground, but must be properly treated at an approved treatment plant.

There should be no "communication" between the two systems! If stormwater from a driveway drain, for example, is being introduced into the sanitary sewer system, this can overload the system and cause overflows, which release these toxic chemicals into the environment.

Other types of defects you might see include roof downspouts, uncapped cleanouts, yard or area drains, window well drains, foundation perimeter drains or defective service pipes.

Any or all of these might permit passage of stormwater into the sanitary sewer system!

Study Area Schedule

Building inspections are currently being conducted in many neighborhoods throughout the City. Please see the attached map for current building inspection locations.

Please see the map for more detail on the areas scheduled for building inspections .

Download the latest version of Adobe Reader