Saturday, July 30, 2011

New Sewer Lateral Ordinance coming to the East Bay

New sewer lateral ordinance coming to Oakland, Piedmont, and Stege Sanitary District which includes Kensington and El Cerrito.

A PSL (private sewer line) is the pipe that connects the the plumbing in the home or business to the sanitary sewer main. Basically, it’s where all your waste goes. Old sewer lines crack overtime which allows rainwater and groundwater to infiltrate the sewer system. This excess water in the system can overwhelm waste water treatment facilities causing untreated water be released into the Bay. This would be an effort to help fix the PSLs which in turn will help untreated waste water entering the Bay.  Unfortunately, this problem will be forced onto the new homeowner or a homeowner who is doing a remodel worth $100,000 or more. In addition, this will also affect homeowner who is changing their meter size.

I understand the “idea” behind this new ordinance but much more needs to be done. What about all the homes that do not sell? This issue seems to be a rather large burden on our environment and it should be addressed on a larger effort than just the sale of homes.

The implementation of the ordinance will be rolled out in August for The city of Emeryville and Piedmont. The Stege Sanitary District which includes Kensington, El Cerrito and a portion of Richmond known as Richmond Annex will roll out in October followed by the City of Oakland in December.

For additional information of the ordinance, go to: