Guide
Minneapolis water and sewer lines: who owns which pipe
When water or sewage is coming into the house, it helps to know which side of the property line the problem is on. Here is how the City of Minneapolis splits it.
Ownership
Owner or city?
- Water service line
- The property owner, from the connection at the water main to the meter, including leaks and freezes.
- Curb valves
- The owner is responsible for making sure the line and the curb valves work.
- Sanitary sewer lateral
- The property owner, from the house to the city main, including the connection.
- Sanitary sewer main
- The city maintains and periodically cleans the main sewer.
- Stormwater on your lot
- The owner manages it: roof drains, downspouts and sump pumps, with none of it sent into the sanitary sewer.
Sources: frozen water lines, sewer repair questions, stormwater
Frozen lines
When the water stops in January
The city explains that service lines freeze when the frost goes as deep as the line, or when the basement is unheated where the line comes in. If yours freezes, the city can send an inspector to confirm it, but thawing or repair is paid for by the owner. It can provide a list of licensed plumbing contractors.
Its prevention advice: keep a trickle of cold water running from a basement-level faucet until the ground thaws, keep basement spaces above freezing, and consider having a contractor lower a line that keeps freezing.
Source: City of Minneapolis
Sewer backups
When sewage comes up the floor drain
Contact 311 (612-673-3000) or report it online. For sewage overflowing from a manhole or sewer odors in the street, the city lists Sewer Operations at 612-673-5625, and a stand-by number, 612-490-5568, outside business hours.
A crew assesses the problem at no charge. If the blockage is in the city's pipe, the city clears it. If it is in your lateral, you may need a drain cleaning service; the city does not clean private laterals. Most backups, the city says, begin with roots growing into a cracked lateral.
Afterwards the city suggests a professional cleaning company to make sure no health hazards remain, and notes that an owner can submit a claim for damages and costs related to the backup.
Source: sewer issue, sewer problems in the home
Phone list
Who to call
- Water emergency
- 612-673-5600
- Sewer Operations
- 612-673-5625 (stand-by 612-490-5568)
- 311
- 311 or 612-673-3000, weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Backwater valve advice
- 612-673-2406
- Permits and code questions
- Construction Code Services, 612-673-3000
Basement, ceiling, smoke or mold
Talk it through with a local restoration contractor
A single call reaches an independent contractor who handles water, fire and mold jobs around Minneapolis. They will ask questions, may come out to look, and give you their own price. Hiring them is your choice.
Water where it shouldn't be?
The call goes to an independent restoration contractor that takes jobs in Minneapolis and the nearby suburbs. Have the source, the wet rooms and the start time in mind.
Call (612) 471-0822Calls may be recorded. How the line is paid: referral disclosure. How call data is handled: privacy.