Sewer connection to main line responsibility Question

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

[Anonymous]

A political question I have to follow up -- WHY would the rules on sewer repair responsibliity be so different in MD (PG county and MOCO I guess, but also Baltimore I think has a similar set up) versus in VA, at least the NOVA counties and cities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

👀 much did that cost you? would homeowners insurance cover that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

👀 much did that cost you? would homeowners insurance cover that?

Homeowners did not cover it. Just the plumbing part alone was $16k.

[Anonymous]

And one other thing. Once WSSC knows you have a leak they give you like a week to get it fixed before shutting off your water and they inspect the repair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

In Rockville this is not correct, OP is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

Insane -- what county do you live in? Was this WSSC? Please explain a little more.

This is from the WSSC website:

WSSC Water is responsible for maintaining the individual sewer service (lateral) from the main to the property line. The service line from the property line to the house and sewer pipes within the house is the homeowner's responsibility. Jan 19, 2024

and

https://www.wsscwater.com/backups

The maintenance of the sewer service – from the property line to the building – is the property owner's responsibility. If your service connects to a WSSC Water main sewer located in a right-of-way on your property, the WSSC Water does not maintain any portion of the service except the actual connection at the WSSC Water's main line. If you are still experiencing backup problems, we recommend that you hire a WSSC Water registered plumber or sewer drain cleaner to clear the sewer service.

PP, it sounds like your pipes didn't just leave your property and go to the street - they left your property and then... just went under two other people's property? They didn't connect to their pipes, they were separate?

(If so, that's a really bad set up in my opinion. What if the other people didn't give you permission to dig on their land?)

Anyhow, I guess I could understand WSSC saying they aren't responsible for anything on private property. But did you also have to pay to dig up the street and do the repair there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

👀 much did that cost you? would homeowners insurance cover that?

Homeowners did not cover it. Just the plumbing part alone was $16k.

What was wrong? How old were your pipes?

[Anonymous]

you are responsible to and from main line. yeah, it was pain

[Anonymous]

That is true for VA. It’s very expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

👀 much did that cost you? would homeowners insurance cover that?

Homeowners did not cover it. Just the plumbing part alone was $16k.

What was wrong? How old were your pipes?

I am interested in this too PP. WWhat went wrong and where was location of leak? How did you even find out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who lives in VA and she needs to repair the sewer pipe that leaves her house and goes to the main city sewer system. The connection to the main line is apparently under the sidewalk or street. She's been told that in her city in VA, the cost of repair - everything from her house, to the actual sewer main, is the homeowner's responsibility. If it involves tearing up a street or even sidewalk, that cost would be considerable!

I live in MD, and my understanding from WSSC is that homeowners here are only responsible for repairs to the end of our property line which does NOT include anything under a sidewalk, or curb, or street - anything there would be up to WSSC to repair.

Does this sound correct to you?

If so - it seems INSANE to me that people in NOVA are expected to arrange and pay for repairs under a paved city street. Is that actually happening? How can low income people even afford it?

You would be mistaken. Homeowner in MD is responsible to the street. I know because two years ago I had a leak. My pipes not only go under my driveway but also under a neighbors and under another neighbors yard before connecting at the street. I was responsible for the entire thing including the damage caused by the repair.

👀 much did that cost you? would homeowners insurance cover that?

Homeowners did not cover it. Just the plumbing part alone was $16k.

What was wrong? How old were your pipes?

For ours in va, we had the old cardboard pipes from the 1940s when the house was built.

[Anonymous]

My water intake pipe from mainline to service line broke. pipe was 30 years old. how did i find out? my front yard was frozen (last December)

[Anonymous]

This is why you get the sewer coverage. It is done somehow through your Dominion bill.