Tips for Homeowners Before Municipal Maintenance
By Darcy Derkowski
When a maintenance truck is parked out on your street, it is important to know your sanitary and storm sewer mains are about to be taken care of. This means the infrastructure beneath your home is being maintained and the useful life of the pipe extended. That’s a really good thing, right? Yes! Let’s talk about the process as it pertains to you as a homeowner. We interviewed several folks from our AIMS team and compiled the following top four tips to ensure a seamless process.
Tip #1: Close your toilet lids. Open your cleanouts.
There are moving parts working in the sewer mains. Closed toilet lid(s) and clear cleanout(s) keep everything maintained within the system.
Tip #2: Provide clear access to any manholes on your property.
No one takes care of your plants and things like you do. If it’s going to need to be moved, it’s better for everyone that you move it whereand how you’d like it moved. Also keep in mind there may be hoses involved;protect your plants accordingly!
Tip #3: Keep you pets inside.
Animals don’t typically like strangers, and our crews don’t want to disturb them. Contain them so that everyone breathes easier.
Tip #4: Check for badging and IDs.
Always check that the crews are identified and badged appropriately. Our crew members will have appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and will be happy to tell you and show you who they are. Accept nothing less.
It’s okay to smell a little bit of odor, we promise it will go away. If you hear a gurgling sound, that’s perfectly normal too. There’s a cleaning process going on underneath the ground, so those odors and sounds are very normal and nothing to be alarmed about.
If you have any questions, call the number on the door hanger for more details. Preventative maintenance is always a good thing and helps prevent larger problems. The inspection process is how infrastructure owners prioritize assets for future maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement. These are vital processes in keeping everything flowing nicely from the flush of the toilet to the arrival at the treatment plant. Be thankful a maintenance truck is on your street!
