Call the Water Utility (608) 755-3115 immediately if you have a sewer backup in your basement or your sanitary sewer line.

Call the 24-Hour Emergency Number (608) 755-6375 after hours or on weekends and holidays.

Usually, roots in the sewer main or service lateral cause backups. However, grease, rags, or other foreign objects in the sewer can also cause backups. There are ways to lower your risk of sewer backups. Avoid putting grease from bacon and other foods down the sink. Put grease in a jar and then in the trash instead. It is especially important for restaurants to properly clean and use their grease traps. Also avoid putting things down the sink or toilet that should be placed in the trash (diapers, rags, paper towels, plastics, napkins, etc.).

Please review our Sanitary Sewer Back-up brochures for more information.

Root back-up brochure

Grease back-up brochure

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Word Viewer Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer