The only time my sewer backs up is in heavy rainstorms. Why is that?
Heavy rain can cause infiltration and inflow problems that overload the city's sanitary sewer system. Some of the city's sewers are nearly a century old. When the ground is really wet some of that water can infiltrate through cracks into the sanitary sewer. The city has an ongoing maintenance program to seal up those leaks and upgrade the system. Inflow problems are magnified by people diverting sump pump discharges into the sanitary sewer instead of out on the lawn or into the storm sewer where they belong.

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1. Does Cedar Falls have a combined or separate sewer system?
2. My basement drain is running slowly. What should I do?
3. Water is backing up in a basement floor drain and I'm not using any water. What is wrong?
4. The only time my sewer backs up is in heavy rainstorms. Why is that?
5. Who should I call if my sanitary sewer backs up after normal working hours?