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Who pays for the sewer lateral in Houston, TX

Which part of the pipe is yours

your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours. A dashed marker means the position depends on your property — see below.

If something’s wrong

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

The answer here has conditions, so it is not repeated in brief. Read who to call first, in full or look up your address.

Houston: official site(opens in a new tab)

Repairing, selling or remodelling? BelowGrid has no sewer lateral permit or inspection rule on file for Houston; that does not mean none exists.

Who is responsible for which part

Who to call first

Houston: “Simply check your cleanout located at the street.”

Call 311 if sewer water is standing by the cleanout: 311

Otherwise: “If there is no sewer water standing by the cleanout, then it is a sewer blockage on your private line and suggest you immediately contact a certified plumber to address your needs.”

Source(opens in a new tab)

Houston Public Works divides the sewer line at the cleanout near the street. It states that "Cleanouts are used to mark the limits of the City’s public collection system", that "Problems with private wastewater pipes, which are typically closer to the home, are the responsibility of the homeowner", and that "Problems with public pipes or those on a public right-of-way are the responsibility of Houston Public Works."

Houston
The public pipes and any pipe in the public right-of-way, on the street side of the cleanout. Houston Public Works asks you to call 311 if sewer water is standing at the cleanout.
The property owner
The private wastewater pipe from the building out to the cleanout. If the toilet backs up and there is no sewer water standing by the cleanout at the street, Houston Public Works treats it as a blockage on your private line and suggests calling a certified plumber.

What decides which applies

The cleanout marks the seam "if you have one"; the City's page says cleanouts are found along public spaces and are typically white plastic pipe with a cap. Where there is no cleanout, the page gives the public right-of-way as the City's side and does not name another point, so ask Houston Public Works before paying for work near the street. The City of Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 47, does not state where the owner's part ends. This answer applies where the City of Houston is your sewer utility. The Public Utility Commission of Texas maps certificated sewer areas of other utilities over about 2% of Houston's land, the largest Gulf Coast Authority's (about 0.7%); municipal utility districts and other districts need no certificate and are not on that map. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality maps municipal utility, water control, fresh water supply and special utility districts over about 12% of Houston's area; the largest, Clear Lake City Water Authority (about 2%), has its own answer inside its boundary, and being inside a district's boundary does not by itself mean the district is your sewer utility. Check the name on your sewer bill, and if a district or another utility bills you, ask it where its part ends.

Sources

Houston Public Works, Protect Our Pipes

Checked

What this page cannot tell you

  • No local requirement has been published here yet. This jurisdiction may well have some - ask it directly.
  • No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.
  • No sewer service territory has been mapped for this area, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address.

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction
Houston (municipality)
Sewer service
No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.

The closest places BelowGrid has checked

The nearest city draws the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.

  • Houston(this page)
    the cleanout (conditions apply)
  • Bryanabout 85 mi
    the main

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

Your other pipe: the water service line

The drinking water line coming into your property is a separate pipe, run by a separate authority, and who is responsible for it is decided separately. Your sewer lateral is yours to the cleanout; your water line stops being yours at the meter.

Who owns the water service line in Houston

Nearby cities and further reading

Look up a specific address

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

Search for an address