Sanitary Sewer / Storm Water
Sanitary Sewer
- Sewer Backups: Most sanitary sewer backups are located in the private lateral service line. The property owner is responsible for maintaining service lines. Occasionally, there is a problem in the mainline. If you are experiencing a sewer backup in your home or business, contact Public Works at 864-967-9531 during normal business hours. After hours contact the Simpsonville Police Department at 864-967-9536 and the problem will be dispatched out to our emergency personnel. If it is determined the problem is in your service lateral, contact a plumber.
- Sewer Odor: If you experience a sewer odor, you may not have a sewer backup. It may be a dry trap in your sink, shower, or tub. Run water in each of these to replenish the trap.
- Sewer Tap Locates: If you need to locate your tap (where your service lateral connects to our sewer main), the cost for the City to locate the tap is $100. Click HERE to obtain a Sewer Tap Locate form. Complete the form and return it to Public Works along with the check to: City of Simpsonville Public Works, 110 Woodside Park Drive, Simpsonville, SC 29681. We will then locate the tap and mark the location in the street.
- Clean out Caps: Please ensure the cap is properly seated on your sewer clean-out pipe, if you have one. The white cap should be visible in your yard above ground level. If the cap is missing or the pipe is damaged, please make the repair and/or replace the cap. This will keep rainwater out of the sewer system which uses up capacity for sewer and creates backups or overflows.
- Sewer Maintenance Issues: The City routinely cleans our main lines. When we are cleaning in your area, you may experience a surge of water in your toilet and/or hear strange sounds from your plumbing. If you call us and tell us that our cleaning caused water to spew from your toilet, we will make a note and leave you a message to cover your toilet(s) with a towel before we clean the next time.
- Prevention of backups and overflows: You can assist us in reducing backups of sewer into your house or overflows in our system by not flushing paper towels down toilets and/or pouring grease down the drain. Grease will stick to the insides of sewer pipes. Over time, the grease can build up and block the pipe entirely causing a backup. Never pour grease down the drain or in a toilet. Scrape grease and food scraps from plates and cookware into cans for disposal. Use basket/strainers in the kitchen sink to catch food scraps and empty them into the trash for disposal. These are other items that should not be flushed into the sewer system:
- Cigarette butts
- Facial tissues
- Moist wipes like baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, etc.
- Toilet bowl scrub pads
- Swiffer pads
- Napkins (paper or cloth), paper towels
- Dental floss
- Egg shells, nutshells, coffee grounds
- Fats or oils
- Hair
- Sanitary napkins, condoms, or any non-organic material
- Vitamins, medicines, or other pharmaceuticals
- Plastic of any kind
- Diapers (disposal, flushable or cloth)
- Relocation of sewer lines: If it becomes necessary to relocate an existing sanitary sewer line, obtain a Drainage/Utility Easement Abandonment Application prior to any work. Click HERE to obtain the form. Complete the form and return to Public Works at 110 Woodside Park Drive, Simpsonville, SC 29681.
- Sewer Easements: The City maintains a 25′ easement along all its sanitary sewer main lines (12.5′ on each side of the sewer line). No permanent structures including buildings of any kind, swimming pools, walkways, drives, etc. can be constructed within the easement. If it becomes necessary to encroach within a sewer easement for any reason, click HERE obtain a Sewer Line Easement Encroachment agreement. Complete the agreement and return it to Public Works, 110 Woodside Park Drive, Simpsonville, SC 29681.
- Ownership/maintenance of Sewer Lines: The City of Simpsonville owns, operates, and maintains only the sewer main often found in the street. Ownership and maintenance of the sewer lateral, up to and including the connection to the sewer main, which runs from a building to the sewer main is the responsibility of the property owner.
Storm Water Policy
The City maintains ONLY the portion of storm drainage systems that are within city street rights-of-way. The purpose is to ensure the streets are free of water hazards that could render them unsafe to navigate by the public as well as emergency personnel. Storm drainage systems within State road rights-of-way are maintained by the State Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
City policy prohibits City personnel or equipment from doing maintenance of storm drainage systems across private property (outside street rights-of-way or easements. The reason: The City does not own the pipes, catch basins, etc. nor does the City own the rights-of-way or easements of these systems. It does not matter whether there is a drainage easement across the property or not. This is not a City-owned easement.
- The City does not regulate storm water nor does it regulate the design or installation of storm water systems.
- The City does not inspect or control the construction of storm water systems.
- The City does not control the amount of storm water allowed to flow through the storm drainage systems.
For the same reasons, the City does not maintain creeks or streams.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the property owner to correct any storm drainage issue on their property. Likewise, if the storm drainage issue lies in a common easement managed by a Homeowner’s Association, the Homeowner’s Association would be responsible for correcting the issue.
Storm Water Property Owner's Guide
In 2002, as a federal mandate, the County of Greenville established a storm water program in order to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act. Programs were created to address water quality issues related to the storm water runoff and to help correct some of the County’s worst flooding problems. Greenville County has jurisdiction within the City of Simpsonville to enforce this Act.
Property owners continue to be responsible and accountable for actions that could lead to water quality degradation and flooding issues.
Your Responsibilities
- Do not attempt to block the natural path of water on your property in any way.
- Consider the natural drainage path when installing fences and sheds.
- Do not attempt to divert water from your property onto another property.
- It is important to keep drainage ditches in your yard free of debris so that water can drain properly. Yard debris also causes algae blooms which affect water quality.
- According to state law, it is the responsibility of property owners with streams on or adjacent to their properties to keep the streams free of debris and fallen trees.
- Do not dump any substances such as dog waste, yard waste, motor oil, antifreeze, or paint into creeks or streams on your property or storm drains in your neighborhood. Streams and storm drains are part of the stormwater system. Dumping items will directly affect the water quality and can result in fines and enforcement actions.
- Water from a neighboring property should be settled between the property owners. If the water is coming from an entire subdivision, contact Greenville County’s Land Development Division (864-467-4610).
- If you plan on making modifications to your property that may disturb the topsoil or alter drainage patterns, please check with Greenville County Land Development.
