24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Bridgeport, CT

The East Side, East End, South End and West End have two- and three-family homes and cottages from the 1870s through the 1920s, many with basements and old clay laterals.

Black Rock and the North End have Victorians, Colonial Revivals and bungalows from the 1890s through the 1940s on tree-lined streets.

Brooklawn and the northern edge of the city filled in from the 1920s through the 1960s with single-family homes.

Much of Bridgeport sits on low ground near the harbor, the Pequonnock River and Long Island Sound.

The older city has combined sewers, and the Water Pollution Control Authority has been working under state orders to reduce overflows.

The Bridgeport Water Pollution Control Authority runs the city's sewers and two treatment plants. Bridgeport property owners maintain the building sewer from the house to the city main.

Nor'easters, summer thunderstorms and tropical storms load the combined sewers and push water into low basements; roots grow fastest in summer.

Winter cold snaps freeze pipes in back porches and unheated basements of old wood-frame houses.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bridgeport's factories made Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines, Warner corsets, Remington cartridges and countless brass and machine parts. Workers from Ireland, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and later Puerto Rico, Brazil and Jamaica filled the East Side, West End and South End with two- and three-family houses. Most still stand, with clay laterals, cast iron stacks and sometimes a house trap near the front basement wall.

Bridgeport's older core drains into combined sewers that carry rain and wastewater together toward the harbor. When heavy rain coincides with high tide, outfalls can't empty, and water backs up toward the lowest basements. The city has been separating sewers and upgrading its plants, but backwater valves remain the best defense for a finished basement.

Black Rock, on the west side along the harbor, has Victorians and Colonial Revivals on leafy streets, along with old cottages near the water. Clay laterals under big trees fill with roots, and the lowest blocks flooded badly during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Two- and three-family homes house a large share of Bridgeport residents. Every household shares the building sewer, and the first-floor or basement unit sees the backup first. Grease from several kitchens is a leading cause, along with wipes and old pipe.

During a December nor'easter, the first-floor family in a 1910 three-family on the East Side finds sewage seeping from the basement floor drain. The owner's plumber opens the cleanout and pulls out grease and wipes, then cables toward the street and finds the clay lateral partly collapsed under the sidewalk. The owner gets a bid for pipe bursting and a backwater valve.

The North End and Brooklawn have single-family homes and two-families from the 1910s through the 1950s, many on tree-lined streets near Beardsley Park. Long clay laterals and big maples mean roots, and many basements are finished.

Hurricane Sandy pushed seawater into the South End, Black Rock and the East End in 2012, flooding basements and filling laterals with silt. Low coastal neighborhoods still see flooding in nor'easters. Lines that went through a surge should be camera-checked for sand and debris.

Many older Bridgeport homes still have a house trap, a U-shaped fitting near the front basement wall. Debris collects there, and clearing the trap fixes many backups. Never open a trap cap while the line is full.

The East Side's Puerto Rican and Latin American restaurants, downtown's dining spots and the Black Rock strip along Fairfield Avenue fry and grill a lot. Restaurants there pump their grease traps regularly to avoid backing up into their own basements.

The University of Bridgeport, in the South End near Seaside Park, and Housatonic Community College bring students to older rental buildings. Heavy use in old lines means more clogs at the start of each term.

Many of those rentals are former single-family Victorians now split into five or six units.

Bridgeport winters bring nor'easters and cold snaps. Back-porch kitchens in three-families and pipes on exterior walls are the first to freeze. Keep heat on in the basement and wrap exposed lines.

The Hollow, near downtown along the Pequonnock River, was one of Bridgeport's first immigrant neighborhoods and still has dense blocks of multi-family homes. Low ground near the river means higher groundwater after storms, and cracked laterals take in water. Owners who line their laterals and add backwater valves keep their basement tenants dry far more often.

Some Bridgeport two- and three-families have been converted to condos, each floor owned separately. The shared building sewer is a common element, so the association handles repairs. Budgeting for a camera inspection every few years avoids surprise assessments when an old line fails.

Tell the plumber the neighborhood, whether it's a two- or three-family, how many households drain into the line and whether you've seen a house trap in the basement. Mention whether it rained hard or the tide was high.