Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 09/29/1999 All articles from this issue

Sewer problem leaves resident regretting the Yellow Pages

printer friendly version

By Wendy Marinaccio

Special to the Town Crier

When the sewer lines backed up at the Marcus ' Los Altos household during nonbusiness hours recently, Denise Marcus flipped through the phone book to look for an emergency plumbing service.

Marcus paid for a shoddy video of the sewer lines and a halfhearted fix from the on-call plumber. "Sitting here with all our toilets backed up, we were kind of in a panic," she said.

Marcus decided to call the city after misinformation about her sewer problems and a costly bid to replace her pipe left her skeptical.

"Los Altos residents should call the city first," Marcus said. "Normally you would think, 'It's your own plumbing, don't call the city,' but they were helpful and honest about what to do," she said. Best of all, Los Altos has a 24-hour emergency response crew for sewer problems.

"What the city wants to do is check if our main line has a problem," said Brian McCarthy, a public works supervisor. He said the city will check the lateral line that connects a home with the city's main line and see which pipe has a clog.

The city doesn't charge for its services, but "the property does have the responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of the lateral line all the way to the main," he said.

McCarthy said common problems with plumbing include grease and roots in the line. Residents may have a problem if their cleanout or sinks are overflowing, he said.

McCarthy said residents should confirm plumbers are licensed contractors and ask for a list of references before they pay for expensive services.

If you have a sewer problem, call Los Altos' Emergency Response Crew, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays at 948-0482. During nonbusiness hours, call the police department at 948-8223 to contact the sewer standby crew.