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CANFIELD -- The city is offering incentives to help homeowners prevent sewage backup.
Before stormwater systems became the norm, city Manager Wade Calhoun explained, homes tied their downspouts or drain lines from roofs and basements directly into sanitary sewer systems.
To incentivize people to take proper measures to prevent backups on private property, a program was introduced at the county level, and then in Canfield over the last decade.
Mirroring Mahoning County's wastewater backflow program, Canfield's own program allows homeowners to make the appropriate improvements and apply to the city for reimbusements.
The available reimbursement maximum is 60 percent up to $3,600; or 50 percent of documented costs to repair or replace failures in the sanitary sewer laterals, up to a maximum of $2,000.
Reimbusements will be made from the sanitary sewer operating fund.
Since a May 28, 2019, storm that caused flooding and other problems, Calhoun said more residents have shown interest in the program, with a handful of reimbursement requests.
There is a list of certified plumbers approved to complete the needed work, Calhoun said.
The program involves a resident installing a gate valve on a sewer line, which will prevent the sanitary sewer from backing up into homes due to major storms or clogs.
In December 2019, Mahoning County commissioners approved alternative measures that residents could do to prevent backflows. These include repiping of some of those lines in question, Calhoun said.
Not many residents take part in the program, and oftentimes gate valves and untying drain lines from sanitary to the stormwater lines can cost between $5,000 and $10,000, Calhoun said.
Many times the gate valves are manual, so if a homeowner anticipates an influx of water due to rain or knows there could be a backup coming into their home, they can close the valve to prevent sewage from coming back into the property, he said.
It was not uncommon to have a floor drain in basements in older homes that were built before comprehensive stormwater systems, Calhoun said.
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