Basement floods during heavy rain

History : I bought the house about 9 months ago (Bronx, NY. semi-attached, neighbor on one side). We had very heavy rain christmas day 2005, and my basement shower backed up and flooded the whole @#$% basement, new carpets, etc.

Plumber came out next day, said it was clogged sewer line, did a roto-rooter job (there was a lot of blockage) and I thought all would be fine and dandy.

We just had a major thunderstorm come thru, and the darn shower started the same thing, gurgle bubbbled (toilet too ) and it filled up my shower stall. Luckily the storm passed before it spread to the rest of the basement.

I have a drain in my rear driveway that goes underground then pops out of my basement wall in the utility room, (see pics) then connects somewhere undergound into my toilet/sink/washer/shower drain, then continues down the length of my basement, then there is a cleanout, then it exits my basement (we are about 8 ft below ground level)




During the storm I could hear the mass of water rushing through that driveway drain pipe that connects to my sewer line.

Is the driveway drain overloading my system, where I could simply plug the %$#& drain and solve my problem, OR is this cause by the sewer sytem in the bronx not being able to handle the the amount of rainwater draining from the city and backing up into my house (time for a backflow valve?)

I'm hoping it's the driveway drain, cause if it is, I'll go shoot a can of foam insulation down the darn thing.

Anyone have any ideas ?

Thanks,
Manny

In most places, draining rain runoff into the waste sewer system is illegal...in a storm, many combined sewer systems (waste and runoff) are overloaded, it might not be because of what you are adding, but the combined aggragate of everyone doing it. The feds have dictated the two sewer system should be segregated to prevent storms from causing raw sewage from being dumped into the rivers. The runoff would normally be drained to the (hopefully) separate street drain system. You'd have to check with the local authorities to find out if in your area things are separated...if they are, you might be in trouble if an inspector happens to check it out for some reason. Maybe turn off caller id?

Hello J, I'm pretty sure I have a combined sewer system. Here's a link to an interesting article about the subject :

http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/pollution/we_are_doing/989

So does this mean my driveway drain most likely isn't to blame ?

Should I get a video/camera inspection of my sewer line to see if there's an obstruction between my house and the street (tree roots, etc) ?

Backflow valve ?

Thanks !

I didn't see a date on that article. I work for a company that does a lot of work for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and it seems the city is making an effort to seperate the combined sewers, or at least improve them. You might want to find out if thats the case where you are. Unfortunately I don't have an easy way to find out for you.

In either case you don't want the storm water to enter your houses sanitary sewer before entering the combined sewer. If you can discharge this water elsewhere, or into a larger pipe downstream you'll be better off.

Where I am, in Columbus, OH, we have combined sewers in some parts as well. Where storm water backs up into peoples basements,the city can install a backflow preventer device of some sort. I'm not sure what its called. If I recall correctly, its got a little float ball and when water comes back up, it floats up and seals the openning off. When its not sealed, the water pushes the ball down and flows around it. Might be worth looking into depending on your options.

Jason

Is there a grill on the driveway drain? Sounds like a great source of pipe-clogging debris. I'd use a 4" ball valve before shooting the can of foam down there. That might also allow you to throttle the flow to where the sewer could handle it. Of course, your driveway would fill up -- do you care about that?

Hello folks, thank you for the replys. Mikey, If the drain gets blocked I'll get an inch or so of water in the driveway but then it spills into the drive area that slopes down to the street. My foam talk was a bit drastic but I do think I'll try to restrict it somehow.

Maybe a combination between that and installing a backvalve where the sewer line from the street meets my house (excavation woes). Gotta do something, I can't have my house flooding.

What do you think of the video inspection ? Worth the time and cost ?

Lakee, I've seen similar problems with other neighborhoods (on the news) but hadn't heard of any problems in my area. I'll try to talk to some of my neighbors and see if they have any similar problems. From what I've read elsewhere, a backvalve sounds like it could be the fix I need (as well as getting rid of the pesky drain behind my house).