Calgary sewer questions, answered from the City's own records and rules

The City draws the line at the property line, in the text that accompanies its service line data. Toward the street, back to the sanitary main, the pipe is the City's to own and maintain; toward the house, it is the homeowner's. Individual cases go to 311, and the City decides them.

Usually behind the curb, often near the back of the sidewalk, because the boulevard is City right-of-way. A real property report shows the lot boundaries, and the City's public-side length for your service line tells you how long its segment is.

PVC, CI (cast iron), CIPP (cured-in-place liner), HDPE, PEX, PE, DI (ductile iron) and CON (concrete) are standard abbreviations. TIL, TP, PLA and OTHER are not defined in the City's metadata; TIL is generally read as clay tile.

Tile is the second most common code on the City's record, at 20.2% of street-side segments; TIL is generally read as clay tile. It dominates communities serviced from 1958 to about 1981, such as Maple Ridge, Rundle and Lake Bonavista.

The City segment of your service line has been relined in place. The date is usually the relining year. It does not mean your private segment has been renewed.

No. The City's description says the data relate only to the portion on public property, and that the private portion can be a different material installed at a different time. Only a camera inspection shows your side.

The City's dataset description asks anyone who believes the pipe material shown is wrong or missing to contact 311. Give the address and any evidence, such as camera footage.

Inner-city communities. Rosedale has the oldest median City-side install year (1950), and Crescent Heights has the earliest record, 1901. Across the City's Inner City class, 41.6% of lines are dated before 1960.

Through City mains and pump stations to the Bonnybrook, Fish Creek or Pine Creek treatment plant. After treatment, including UV disinfection, the City releases the water into the Bow River.

The City's effluent data show an average of about 515,000 cubic metres of treated water released per day in 2025, roughly 79% of it from Bonnybrook. Flows rise sharply on wet summer days.

Not to the sanitary sewer. The City says storm drains, more than 60,000 of them, carry water to rivers and streams without treatment. That is why nothing but rain should enter them.

Rain and groundwater leak into sanitary pipes through cracks, open joints and improper connections, and a surcharged main pushes water back up service lines. A serviced backwater valve helps protect below-grade fixtures.

The City's 2018 design guidelines require at least 2.5 m of cover over sanitary sewers in the public right-of-way, and the City describes excavating 8 to 24 feet to reach mains during repairs.

The City's service line data are free and mapped, but they show only the City segment of each residential connection. Maps of mains and manholes are sold through City Online under a licence.

No. Utility Safety Partners locates utility-owned lines for free with at least three full working days' notice, but its guidance says customer-owned water and sewer lines are not located. A private locator or a camera with a sonde finds yours.

The City's wastewater pages refer to Wastewater Bylaw 14M2012. It sets limits and prohibited or restricted substances for discharges to the wastewater system and requires food businesses to have properly sized grease interceptors.

The City's bylaw summary lists soil, waste, animal waste, cooking oils and grease, gasoline, motor oil, paint, cement, yard waste, pesticides and detergents. Soapy car-washing water must not reach a storm drain either; the City's pages differ on whether rinsing on the street with water alone is allowed.

The City says a plumbing permit is required to install a backflow prevention device. It also notes that Alberta's plumbing code requires below-grade fixtures to be protected from sewer backup.

After a 311 call, a crew can run a steel snake through your cleanout to judge whether the blockage is on private or public property. The City says crews will not move furniture, pull carpet, remove toilets or open drywall.

The City's data show 3,871 City-side segments relined from 2017 to 2025, concentrated in older communities, and the City describes a Sanitary Lateral Lining Program pilot. Check your address with the lookup or ask 311.

Yes. Alberta's wastewater surveillance program, managed by Alberta Health and Alberta Precision Laboratories, tests for COVID-19, influenza, RSV and other pathogens, and Calgary was added to the national dashboard's joint program in 2024.

The City says only approved, indemnified contractors may install service connections, that the owner pays for the work, and that the City inspects connections against its specifications.

The City bills residential wastewater on 88% of metered water use, business accounts on 90% and multi-family accounts on 95%. The reduction allows for water used outdoors that never reaches a sewer.

On the City's 19 m³ example of $119.21 a month, water came to about $46.91, wastewater about $55.30 and stormwater $17.00, by this site's arithmetic from the City's published 2026 rates, as checked September 2026.

One of three pipes carrying untreated wastewater under the Bow River to the Bonnybrook plant leaked on the east bank near the Ogden Road bridge. The City isolated it on 28 March 2025 and diverted flow to the other two pipes.

Yes. Both names refer to Bylaw 37M2005; the City's current bylaw pages call it the Stormwater Bylaw. Lot grading is covered separately by Lot Grading Bylaw 32M2004.

To 311. The City asks for the exact time you noticed it, the location and how long it lasted, and uses those reports with wind data to trace odour sources.

Yes. The City lists six regional wastewater customers, including Airdrie, Chestermere and Strathmore. Each carries its wastewater to the Calgary city limits, and rates are set to recover the full cost of the service.

The City says its sanitary main replacement work runs from April to October, with each replacement expected to take two to four weeks and at least a day's notice of any service disruption.

No. It is an independent information site that analyses the City's open data and links to official sources. For official decisions and service requests, contact the City through 311.