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Who pays for the sewer lateral in Clearlake, CA

Which part of the pipe is yours

  • Sewer lateral

    Yours from your property line to your building — if certain conditions are met

    Why, and what to do
your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours. A dashed marker means the position depends on your property — see below.

If something’s wrong

If a repair needs a permit or an inspection

  • Before work on the pipe · Permit · Lake County Sanitation District

    Who issues it:
    Lake County Sanitation District
    What it covers:
    constructing, repairing or altering a side sewer, from the building's foundation to the main, or making a connection with any main sewer

    Section 401 of Lake County Sanitation District's sewer use ordinance provides that "no person shall construct, repair or alter a side sewer or make a connection with any main sewer without first obtaining a written permit from the District and paying all fees and connection charges as required therein."

The repair rule in full, with its sources

Buying or selling?

No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

BelowGrid has no first-call guidance on file from Lake County Sanitation District about the sewer lateral.

Lake County Sanitation District: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

In Clearlake, Lake County Sanitation District maintains the lateral sewer from the main to the property line, but the owner maintains the whole side sewer until a property line cleanout is installed. The District's Rules provide that the District connects each property by "a lateral sewer extending from the main to the property line, which connection shall thereafter be maintained and kept within the exclusive control of the District", and that "Until such time as a property line cleanout is installed, a sewer backup on the property will be the responsibility of the property owner."

Lake County Sanitation District
The lateral sewer, from the property line to the main, where a property line cleanout has been installed. The District's own answer is that "The sewer lateral (the section between the property line and the mainline sewer) is owned and maintained by the District", and that "For sewer laterals with installed property line cleanouts, the District will clean the lateral sewer from the cleanout to the mainline."
The property owner
The building sewer, from the building to the property line: "Responsibility for installation and maintenance of the building sewer beyond the property line shall be the sole responsibility of the customer." The owner also installs the property line cleanout, which the District says is the owner's: "It is the responsibility of the property owner to install a property line cleanout."

What decides which applies

The cleanout decides it. The District's sewer use ordinance provides that "Side sewers installed without a cleanout located at the point where the building sewer connects to the lateral sewer shall be maintained by the Owner of the property served thereby" - and a side sewer runs from the building's foundation to the main, taking in the lateral under the street. So without a cleanout at the property line, the owner maintains the whole run to the main; with one, the District has the part from the cleanout to the main. Where the District finds that a customer has not installed the cleanout, it writes to say one is needed. The City of Clearlake has adopted the District's sewer use ordinance into its own code.

Sources

Lake County Sanitation District, Wastewater System Rules and Regulations

Also quoted:

Checked

What the rules say

These requirements are issued by Lake County Sanitation District, not by Clearlake.

Most relevant if you are selling or buying

No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.

Also in force here

  • Before work on the pipePermit
    Who issues it:
    Lake County Sanitation District
    What it covers:
    constructing, repairing or altering a side sewer, from the building's foundation to the main, or making a connection with any main sewer

    Section 401 of Lake County Sanitation District's sewer use ordinance provides that "no person shall construct, repair or alter a side sewer or make a connection with any main sewer without first obtaining a written permit from the District and paying all fees and connection charges as required therein."

    What to do: Before a side sewer is built, repaired or altered, or connected to a main, get a written permit from Lake County Sanitation District, and ask whether a building permit is needed as well.

    Why this matters

    The side sewer is the whole run from the building's foundation to the main, so the permit reaches a repair on your own land as well as work under the street. The District's inspector inspects the work, and the ordinance does not allow a sewer to be covered until it has been inspected and passed.

    Issued by Lake County Sanitation District · In force since · Checked

    Sewer Use Ordinance of Lake County Sanitation District (Ordinance No. 871

What this page cannot tell you

  • No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction
Clearlake (municipality)
Sewer service

The closest places BelowGrid has checked

All 4 of the nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.

  • Clearlake(this page)
    the property line (conditions apply)
  • Healdsburgabout 26 mi
    the main (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Cloverdaleabout 23 mi
    the main
  • St. Helenaabout 32 mi
    the main
  • Santa Rosaabout 36 mi
    the main

Distances are approximate, in a straight line between the places’ centres.

Compare the rules city by city

Nearby cities and further reading

Look up a specific address

This page describes what applies to properties in Clearlake in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

Search for an address