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The City of Portland, Oregon

Environmental Services

working for clean rivers

Phone: 503-823-7740

Fax: 503-823-6995

1120 SW 5th Ave, Suite 613, Portland, OR 97204

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Evaluating Private Sewer Lines in the Right-of-Way

Environmental Services staff evaluates applications for acceptance or adoption.

Acceptance Requirements

  • The sewer line serves residentially-zone properties
  • The sewer line is at least eight inches in diameter
  • There is a clean-out for the line where it connects to the city sewer system
  • The line meets current city standards or standards in effect at the time of original construction
    • Materials meet standards of Section 4.2 of the Sewer and Drainage Facilities Design Manual (SDFDM)
    • Adequate depth of cover materials and slope to drain by gravity to the city sewer system per SDFDM Section 4.4
    • Is located within a position in the right-of-way consistent with Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 340.052 Appendix A section (1)(i) and (2)(i)
  • All property owners served by the line apply to the Bureau of Environmental Services via a public works permit for acceptance and pay all application, review, permit, transfer of ownership and other fees in Section 9  of the November 2012 Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Rules
  • All property owners served by the sewer have signed and notarized transfer-of-ownership agreements relinquishing ownership of the sewer
  • The line has been cleaned and its condition verified with a closed-circuit video or other city-approved inspection method within the previous six months and Environmental Services has given the line a grade of 2 or better according to the bureau System Plan
  • A pipe survey and as-built drawings are not required. Environmental Services will provide them as part of the permitting process 

Adoption Requirements

  • Line is at least six inches in diameter
  • Line has a clean-out upstream of the portion to be adopted
  • Environmental Services has graded the line as 4 or better acccording to the scale in Section 7.A.7 of the November 2012 Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Rules 
  • All property owners served by the private line must sign and submit to the city a transfer of ownership
  • The property owners pays a city branch charge
  • All property owners connected to the line make an official adoption request that includes the following:
    • Documentation of the physical location of the sewer, either electronically or physically, and its route from the properties being served to the existing public sewer connection
    • Documentation that the sewer is clean and that the pipe's condition has been verified with closed-circuit video or other city-approved inspection method within the previous six months

Environmental Services staff will evaluate the request and make one of four decisions:

  1. The city will adopt the line as-is
  2. The line needs repair to meet the eligibility criteria in Section 7.B.1  of the November 2012 Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Rules
  3. The properties served by the sewer meet the Systems Improvement Decision Criteria in Section 6 of the November 2012 Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Rules and the city already has plans (subject to change) to provide a new public sewer adjacent to the property within two years based on current budget priorities
  4. The line does not meet the criteria and the city will not accept or adopt the line