The City owns and maintains 64 miles of sanitary sewers. Sizes range from 8 inches to 33 inches in diameter. Crews work year-round to keep sanitary sewer main lines clean. Property owners are responsible for their service, including the connection at the main.
The city also owns and maintains 11 lift stations that pump sewage from lower to higher elevations. After this process is complete, the sewage moves to another lift station owned and operated by the Met Council. This lift station also meters the amount of sewage from New Hope.
Residents should call public works if roots must be removed from their service lines. Once roots are removed, they often travel downstream to a sewer maintenance hole where they can cause a backup to the main line.
Call the public works department whenever your sewer is backed-up. Personnel will respond 24 hours a day to determine what is causing the blockage in the sewer line. Staff members will remove the blockage source if it is in the main line. If it is determined that the blockage is not in the main line, staff members will instruct you to call a plumber to remove the blockage from your service.
Please ONLY flush toilet paper. Hygiene products, paper towels, and wipes can clog your sewer and regional systems, causing wide-scale sewer back-ups. Even wipes labeled as "flushable" CANNOT be flushed. They may not clog in your toilet or private sewer system but DO get caught on equipment in the sewer processing system, causing blockages.