Sewer Main Line

When you think of a sewer mainline, it’s easy to imagine something that looks like a pipe. In fact, there are two lines in the sinkhole, one for water and one for waste. Sewer mains usually have square or rectangular openings on the outside at ground level which you can see if your grass is low enough to view them.

The Sewer Main Line delivers wastewater from your home through to either a septic tank system or directly to the city’s Sewage Treatment Facility. It’s very likely that this is where your home gets its water from as well, though not always. If you live in an area with good groundwater conservation practices, then you’re more than likely using well water instead of surface water to supplement what your Sewer Main Line delivers.

Before you can maintain your Sewer Main Line, it’s important to know what the different components are where they’re found in your home. This will help you better understand how your Sewer Main Line works and how you may be able to save some money on bills from the Sewage Treatment Facility by making some changes to keep things flowing smoothly down there.

To begin with, water entering a Sewer Main Line usually enters at one of these points:

• The Public Side Manhole – this is where your line connects to the public Sewage Treatment Facility. If there isn’t a manhole here, it’s because of a dry well which acts as a reservoir for excess water during high flow rates so that your Sewer Main Line can still receive water in times of excess demand.
• The Sewage Pump Manhole – this is where the Sewage Pump Station is located if you have one. If it’s not available, then the sewage goes to…
• Public Side Manhole extends all the way to your home instead.

After water enters through either of these points, there are three things that it goes through before it exits into either a Sewage Treatment Facility or septic tank environment:

• Sludge Pit – Most sewer mains start with a pit that receives any solid matter that might be in the wastewater stream entering from your home. This allows solids to sink to the bottom while lighter materials float on top for removal by Sewage Maintenance Workers. Any remaining solids will be carried with the Sewer Main Line to either a Sewage Treatment Facility or septic tank for treatment.
• Sewer Main Filter – As wastewater passes through this, any remaining solids are removed and whatever’s left is allowed to pass on through. Any wastewater containing excess water flows through the Sewer Main Filter where it gets separated so that only excess water continues along the Sewer Main Line towards your home. Water delivered by this point has already been treated once, but since there may still be small, solid contaminants that would clog up your home’s sewer line further downstream, they’re filtered out here before delivery back into nature.
• Trash Rake Manhole – This man allows Sewage Maintenance Workers to attach a device to your Sewer Main Line for removing any remaining solids. They can use it to drag larger objects out of the Sewer Main Line, or attach it to what’s known as a flusher wire for dragging smaller, more lightweight materials out.
• Sewage Pump Station – This acts as another failsafe measure in case excess water capacity is needed by routing some amount of wastewater through this station where Sewage Maintenance Workers are able to pump it into the Sewage Treatment Facility.

If you have an issue with your sewer main, it is important to call a sewer line plumber for service.