What makes the sewers so expensive to maintain and repair?
A sewer system is one of the most expensive utilities a city operates, and is probably the single most expensive utility owned by the City of Fullerton. There are several reasons; one of the major factors is the depth of sewer pipes. To protect drinking water supplies, sewer pipes are buried deeper than water supply lines. A typical water line may be five to seven feet underground, while a sewer line may be between 10 and 25 feet deep. Excavating to that depth is much more expensive because trenches have to be supported and more protective measures need to be in place. Another reason is that while repairs are being made, the sewer lines must be bypassed with auxiliary pipes so sewage wont back up in the system. The bypass system must be leak-proof and requires round-the-clock monitoring. Another factor driving up the cost of sewer maintenance is the new Waste Discharge Requirement from the State of California, which requires us to perform periodic and expensive tests on the system.
