24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Philadelphia, PA

South Philly, Fishtown, Kensington, Port Richmond and Point Breeze are dominated by two-story brick rowhomes from the 1880s through the 1920s, with basements and clay or cast iron laterals.

West Philadelphia, Germantown, Mount Airy and Fairmount have twins, Victorians and larger rowhomes from the 1870s through the 1920s, many on tree-lined blocks.

The Northeast, Roxborough and parts of Southwest Philly filled in from the 1920s through the 1960s with porch-front and garage-front rowhomes and twins.

Center City, Society Hill and Old City have townhouses from the 1700s and 1800s, along with converted industrial buildings and new construction.

About sixty percent of the city has combined sewers, and the Philadelphia Water Department's Green City, Clean Waters program uses green infrastructure to reduce overflows.

The Philadelphia Water Department operates the city's sewers and treatment plants. In Philadelphia, the homeowner owns the house lateral from the building out to the main, including the portion under the street, and repairs there are the owner's cost.

Summer thunderstorms and the remnants of tropical storms overload the combined sewers and send water into rowhome basements, and roots grow fastest from May through August.

Winter cold snaps freeze pipes in unheated basements, rear kitchens and exterior walls of older rowhomes.

Philadelphia built rowhomes by the hundreds of thousands, block after block of narrow brick houses sharing walls with their neighbors. Most have a basement, a front room, a middle room and a kitchen at the back, with a cast iron stack running down to the basement and a lateral running out the front wall, under the sidewalk and into the street to the main. In many homes, a house trap sits near the front basement wall. When the lateral or trap clogs, water from upstairs comes up through the basement floor drain or laundry tub.

In Philadelphia, homeowners own their lateral all the way to the main, often in the middle of the street. When a century-old clay or cast iron lateral collapses under the street, repair can mean a street opening, permits and a significant bill. Trenchless lining can sometimes avoid that. PWD has offered help through programs like the HELP loan for eligible homeowners, so it's worth asking.

Most of older Philadelphia is served by combined sewers that carry rain and wastewater together. During heavy storms, they overflow into the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers and can push water into basements. The city's Green City, Clean Waters program has built rain gardens, tree trenches and other green infrastructure to absorb rain before it reaches the sewers. For homeowners, a backwater valve is the best protection.

South Philly's endless blocks of brick rowhomes, from Passyunk to Pennsport, were built for Italian, Irish, Jewish and later Vietnamese, Mexican and Cambodian families. Laterals are typically clay or cast iron and well over a century old. Grease from home cooking and wipes are common culprits, along with cracked pipe.

West Philadelphia's twins and Victorians near Penn and Drexel, and Germantown's and Mount Airy's stone homes, sit on tree-lined streets. Big trees mean roots in clay laterals are the leading cause of backups. Student houses near the universities add heavy use.

After an August thunderstorm, a family in a 1920s rowhome in Point Breeze finds water around the basement floor drain. The plumber opens the house trap and pulls out grease and wipes, then cables toward the street and hits a blockage about twenty-five feet out. The camera shows the clay lateral has cracked and partially collapsed under the sidewalk. The family asks PWD about repair assistance and gets a bid for lining.

Fishtown and Kensington, once home to textile mills and shipyards, have seen huge redevelopment. New construction sits next to century-old rowhomes, and new homes sometimes tie into old laterals or old mains. Problems often appear where new pipe meets old.

Northeast Philadelphia filled in from the 1920s through the 1960s with porch-front and garage-front rowhomes and twins. Laterals there are clay or cast iron, now aging, and many homes have finished basements, making flood protection important.

From the cheesesteak spots in South Philly to the corner delis, pizza shops and restaurants on every commercial strip, Philadelphia's kitchens put a lot of grease into the sewers. Many operate in old rowhome buildings with old laterals. Grease interceptors and regular jetting keep them open.

Rowhomes share walls, which helps keep them warm, but rear kitchens, back porches and unheated basements can still freeze in a hard cold snap. Pipes along the back wall are usually the first to go. Keep the basement heated and let a faucet drip on the coldest nights.

Share your neighborhood and roughly when the house was built, whether it's a rowhome, twin or single, and whether there's a house trap. Mention whether it rained hard, whether neighbors have water too and whether street trees grow near the lateral.