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Sewer supervisor details scope of city collections and urges residents not to flush wipes
Summary
Sewer maintenance supervisor Corey Sheets told the Public Works Advisory Committee the city maintains 6,550 sanitary manholes and 236 miles of sanitary pipe, outlined inspection routines and safety procedures, and urged residents to keep trash and baby wipes out of inlets and household drains.
Corey Sheets, the city’s sewer maintenance supervisor, told the Public Works Advisory Committee on April 16 that the city operates two separate systems — sanitary sewer collections and storm maintenance — with distinct crews and responsibilities. "On the sanitary sewer collection side, we maintain 6,550 manholes," Sheets said, and added the sanitary system covers 236 miles of pipe ranging from 8 to 48 inches in diameter.
Sheets explained why routine maintenance matters: blockages in sanitary lines can back up into basements and contaminate drinking water, while blocked storm infrastructure can flood properties and harm creek ecosystems. He described inspection methods including visual checks and CCTV cameras and said the sanitary network is inspected on a five-year cycle (about a fifth of the system each year), while the storm system is inspected on a 10-year cycle.
Sheets described common failure modes and maintenance tasks — tree roots and grease often clog sanitary pipelines; leaves, yard waste and debris block storm inlets — and outlined safety protocols crews use when working in trenches and confined spaces, including trench shoring, 4-gas meters and harnesses tied to winches.
During questions, a committee member asked who performs final yard restoration after sewer repairs. Sheets said the water-and-sewer restoration crew handles those restorations and that scheduling depends on the crew’s workload: "Depending on what their workload is in that given time, it can be a few weeks before they get by there." He noted yard grading that reflects property-maintenance issues remains the homeowner’s responsibility.
Committee members also raised concerns about inlet grates that clog during heavy storms. Sheets said circular dome grates can work where structures are round, but rectangular inlets often have fewer off-the-shelf dome solutions; the city will evaluate site-specific options.
The presentation closed with a resident-focused plea: keep trash and baby wipes out of inlets and avoid discharging pool chemicals or sediment into storm drains. Sheets said illicit discharges are investigated and, when necessary, code enforcement or the appropriate regulatory authority is involved.
