I have a backup in my main line that I am scratching my head about what happened.

After flushing the toilet in bathroom 2 tonight around 6pm, around 6:30pm or so my wife said she heard a funny sound in bathroom 1, and it was the sound of bubbles coming up from the bathroom 1 toilet and shower drain, and bathroom 1 is downstream of bathroom 2. After seeing the bubbles from bathroom 1's toilet and shower, I suspect there is a blockage downstream of bathroom 1, and since bathroom 1 is the last stop before the main line exits the house, the blockage is probably outside the house.

I went back to bathroom 2 and wanted to check if I hear bubbles there. No sound. I did noticed that the toilet was running, and when I flushed the toilet 30 minutes earlier the lever did not return to it's normal position so the flush valve flapper did not close 100% and it has been running water down the drain for about 30 minutes...but I don't think this would have caused a blockage, unless there was a partial blockage already and this just made it much worse.

OK next stop is to go outside the house, as I have a cleanout right outside bathroom 1, cleanout "A".

Outside looking at cleanout A, I see a puddle around it, with water seeping out from the CO cover's threads. So the waste water has fill up the pipe and the cleanout riser pipe which is 24" above the drain.

I went to the next cleanout, cleanout "B" which is 15 feet downstream of cleanout "A". It too has some water seeping out of it's cover, and the riser pipe at B is 28" above the pipe.

I then walked to the last cleanout, cleanout C, which is 50 feet downstream of cleanout B, it also has water seeping out of the cover and made a puddle around it. Cleanout C is a 6" CO, it is located right outside the property line, and the drain I believe changed size from 3" to 6". Cleanout C has a 32" riser.

So water is seeping out of cleanout A, B, C, and C is right outside the property line. I thought about opening one of the cover to see, but I think more than likely it will cause more waste water to come out and flood the surrounding areas, so I didn't. But if cleanout C is overflowing, then the blockage must be downstream of it where it connects to the city right?

Here is a sketch of the house, drain and cleanouts.



So I called the city's public works department and they said they will send a crew out to take a look "ASAP".

Two hours gone by and no one came from the city.

I decided to open the cover for cleanout B. Looked down with a flashlight and it's clean.

Hmmm...I asked my wife to flush the toilet in bathroom 1 and I saw water flowing by.

I went to cleanout A right outside the house, and it's clear as well.

I walked to cleanout C, opened it, and it's clear as well. But I could tell water was all the way to the top because there is a puddle around the cleanout and the inside wall of the riser is wet.

So something happened and the line is now cleared. I went inside and turned on the shower, kitchen sink faucet, flush both bathroom toilets 3-4 times in a row, and nothing. No bubbles.

So it must be the city, they came by and cleared the line on their end and left? I called them and asked if they have already came by, but they said no they don't think anyone came by yet, but if I no longer have the issue then they will cancel the work order. He said "sometimes they fix themselves, sometimes could be a pump down on the lift station for maintenance and they turned it back on, who knows..."

Well, is that running toilet for 30 minutes the culprit then? Or not?

Is there something I should be worried about here?

It is not unusual for clogs to sometimes clear themselves
Then again it’s not unusual for miscommunication to happen between city employee and dispatcher
Either way it sure sounds like the pipe between C and city main or city main was clogged

i'd keep cover B loose and monitor the situation for a dew days.

the main sewer to the lift station 'stopped up' for some reason, possibly maintenance at the 'lift station', or, requiring maintenance of said 'lift station'


!? problem gone ?!


+++ don't worry, be happy +++

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638



Edited 1 times.

I hope it's the city's end that got cleared, but if they didn't come out, and I don't think they are that efficient...if they came out I think they would have called or knocked on my door "hey we unblocked the sewer". Plus if they unblocked it they would have used my 6" CO right?

This is last night, how much waste water was spilled out of that cleanout? A would say quite a bit.



Also, am I supposed to seal the CO cover water tight? All three CO had water seeping out. I don't think I can tighten them anymore. Should I have used pipe dope or something to seal the threads or by design they should leak out?

I just have never seen water coming out as high as the risers that are 24, 28, 32 inches, then gone an hour later.

they are supposed to be water-tight sealed.
i use teflon tape so they can be unscrewed in the future.

yep

watertight

a couple wraps of PTFE tape will do the trick

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

A few days gone by and no more overflows from the COs.

This is a picture showing CO "C" and the manhole in the street. The manhole is about the same elevation as CO "C", so if the city's main line is backed up, wouldn't sewage be seeping out of the manhole too? But it didn't, so the only logical conclusion I can come up with is there was a blockage downstream of CO "C" before the connection to the city's line and that blockage cleared. May be it cleared or may be it only cleared partially.



If there was a blockage there is it my responsibility to clear it or the city's? The CO "C" is just outside of the property line. Should I send a camera down that CO to see what's going on or leave it alone?



Edited 1 times.

i'd stick a garden hose down there. seal around the hose with a big rag that won't fall in. turn the hose on full tilt and let it run for as few minutes.
check it a couple of times to make sure it isn't backing up.

Most manhole covers have a plastic shield under the cover to prevent rainwater from entering the sewer and could prevent water from escaping the sewage system when backed up