Infiltration and inflow are words we use to describe rain and groundwater entering the sanitary sewers. Our sewer system is not designed to carry this type of flow. We are charged with handling sanitary flows only, that is, tap water that goes down your plumbing fixture drains after you have used it. Each village in our service area has a separate storm drainage system designed specifically to handle rain and groundwater.

We receive significant amounts of rain and groundwater in our system. During major rain events, flow at the plant can reach as high as ten times our dry-weather sanitary flow. While we have facilities to treat these excess flows, we are not able to provide the same level of treatment as we can for dry weather flows. These high flows also cause operating problems in the sewer system by taking up the capacity available to transport sanitary flow, contributing to backups and flooding in low-lying areas, and aggravating minor blockages.

We have ordinances in place that strictly prohibit these types of water from entering our sewer system. We dedicate significant resources to finding and eliminating sources of these excess flows.

We know that a large portion of excess flows come from private property. Buildings in our service area can have flaws in the way the plumbing is configured. Sources like roof drain downspouts and footing drain sump pumps can contribute very large amounts of excess flow into the sanitary sewer if improperly connected to the building sanitary service.

A good neighbor will keep their building plumbing properly configured to make sure that they are not part of everyone's backup problem.

Other common sources of excess flows are poorly-configured connections between the building sanitary service and the public sewer, and faulty building sewer services that leak.

Our program to remove infiltration and inflow is designed to identify and eliminate sources of rain and groundwater that are entering the manholes, sewers, and building service laterals through leaks and defects. We continually monitor the system and prioritize areas to focus our rehabilitation efforts. The Program Documents include detailed requirements, instructions, and forms:

Private Property Infiltration and Inflow Removal Program.

Our programs to help customers with service laterals and building plumbing require customers to allow us to inspect their homes and businesses to ensure that there are no rain and groundwater connections to the sanitary sewer, as a condition of receiving these services.

The building sanitary service is the pipe connecting your house to the sewer in the street. We offer an assistance program for customers with chronic building sanitary service backup problems. We define chronic problems as three backup incidents in a two-year period.

In order to verify each incident, we must be notified of any problems and allowed to inspect the problem. It is important to notify us at (630)969-0664 of any sewer backup incidents on your property.

In addition, each incident where rodding by a plumber was required should be reported with the following form, to be submitted to us with the appropriate documentation.

Sewer Rodding Report Form.

The Downers Grove Sanitary District will pay for repair, rehabilitation, or replacement of eligible service laterals, on the condition that steps are taken to eliminate rain and groundwater sources from getting into the service lateral on the property. The requirements of the program are detailed in our program document, along with forms and instructions:

Building Sanitary Service Repair Assistance Program.

Overhead sewers and backflow prevention devices are plumbing features that can be installed inside your house to prevent sewer backups in cases where high flows in the public sewer is causing backups.

Many of our customers are eligible to receive financial assistance with the installation of overhead sewers or backflow prevention devices inside their house.

If your building has ever experienced a backup due to high flows in the public sewers and you are interested in this program, the Program Documents are available here:

Cost Reimbursement Program for the Installation of Overhead Sewers or Backflow Prevention Devices.

Despite our best efforts to maintain the sewer system, there are occasions when blockages in the public sewer cause a back up into a building that causes damage in the building. We have a reimbursement program in place that allows for some reimbursement for such damages.

Details of the program, and a claim form, are included in the following program documents:

Reimbursement Program for Sanitary Sewer Backups Caused by Public Sewer Blockages

A recreational vehicle dumping station is available at the District office, at 2710 Curtiss Street in Downers Grove. The station is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays.