Sewer Line Replacement in Southern Maine

The building sewer is the pipe from the house to either the public main or the septic tank, and which one it is depends heavily on the town. Portland's mainland is sewered almost end to end, with flow treated at the Portland Water District's East End plant, and older parts of the peninsula still have combined sewers. South Portland runs its own utility, and the great majority of its homes are on public sewer. In both cities, most of the work is on the private lateral, and the first question before digging is where the owner's responsibility ends and the city's begins.

The ground makes a difference too. Much of the coastal lowland around Portland Harbor sits on the blue-gray marine clay of the Presumpscot Formation, which stays wet and is hard on pipe joints, so older clay and cast iron lines tend to fail at the joints and let roots in. In towns where sewer covers only part of the map, such as Cape Elizabeth, Freeport and Cumberland, the same street can have houses on both kinds of line.

We start with a camera inspection so only the damaged run is excavated, then lay new PVC or HDPE pipe at a consistent slope and test the flow. When the pipe is sound but blocked, sewer jetting may be all it needs.