Sanitary Sewer Backups

Reporting Sewer Backups

Always call the City at 847-963-0500 at ext. 7022 or 7011 prior to calling a plumber when you experience a sanitary sewer backup or when you feel that the problem may be caused outside of the home. If it is after normal business hours, please call 847-255-2416.

A Public Works Department representative will be dispatched to check the main sanitary sewer line at no cost to you. Representatives are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including weekends and holidays. This information will be useful to you if you need to call a plumber. If the plumber can't make it all the way to the City main sewer line, and the blockage is in the right-of-way (parkway, street, or easement) call the City immediately, before the plumber removes his sewer rod from the sanitary sewer service line.

Sanitary Sewer Responsibility

 The sanitary sewer responsibility of maintenance resides with the owner of the property to the sanitary main. The City will repair broken sanitary laterals from the main to the property line if issues are found. Image below shows the sanitary sewer responsibilities. 

Heavy Rainfall Sanitary Sewer Backups

Call the City at the time you're having a problem so we can check the sanitary sewer system. We need to know when and where these backups occur so we can analyze the area to determine if we can reasonably reduce future occurrences. During periods of prolonged heavy rainfalls, it is common to experience slower moving drains until the system catches up.