Sewage backed up into the house: safety, cleanup and coverage

Right away

• Stop using water in the house: no flushing, laundry, dishwashing or showers. Every gallon you send down can come back up the lowest drain.
• Keep children and pets away. Wear rubber boots and gloves; sewage carries bacteria and viruses.
• Do not run a household vacuum on sewage. Contaminated porous materials such as carpet, pad and drywall usually have to be removed.

Whose problem is it?

• On city sewer, the line from the house to the public sewer (the lateral) is generally the owner's to maintain, and the main in the street is the utility's. If neighbors have backups too, or a manhole is overflowing, call the City of Newberry or your sewer provider first.
• On septic, the system is entirely yours. Heavy rain that saturates the drain field is a common cause of slow drains and backups. The U.S. EPA and CDC advise against pumping a septic tank while the ground is saturated, and to keep water use low until the drain field recovers.

Insurance

Most homeowners policies do not cover water that backs up from sewers and drains; that coverage is usually sold as an endorsement (Insurance Information Institute). Ask your agent whether you have it. Sewer backup coverage often has its own limit, lower than the policy limit, so check the amount. Water that enters from outside during a flood is flood damage, not sewer backup, and needs a flood policy. Flood vs water damage.

Can a freeze cause a backup?

Buried sewer lines rarely freeze in the Midlands. But a drain line that runs through an open crawl space or an outside wall can freeze where water sits in a trap, and grease hardens in cold pipes. If drains slow down after a hard freeze, warm the crawl space and give it time rather than pouring chemical drain cleaner into a pipe that may be frozen.

Prevent it

• Keep grease, wipes and paper towels out of drains.
• Ask a plumber about a backwater valve if your lowest drains sit below the street sewer.
• Have a septic tank pumped on the schedule your installer recommends.