Detroit Says 1 in 3 Private Sewer Lines Is Failing. Suburban Homes From the Same Era Have the Same Pipes

Sewer lateral repairs by Mansour's Innovations: roots in an old line, a new PVC lateral and cleanouts, Shelby Township area

Mansour's Innovations logo. Family-owned waterproofing, excavation and plumbing contractor in Shelby Township, Michigan

Detroit is spending $184 million to fix 9,000 private sewer connections. A Shelby Township contractor says older suburban homes need a camera down the line too.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI, UNITED STATES, November 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The pipe that carries everything out of a house is usually the oldest thing on the property, and almost nobody has seen it.

This year the City of Detroit and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) announced a $184 million Alley Sewer Repair Program to fix about 9,000 private residential sewer connections by the end of 2030. In announcing it, DWSD said "one in three private sewer line connections are clogged, offset, or completely fallen off," and that most of Detroit's housing stock is 60 to 90 years old. The city lists tree roots, deteriorating pipe, shifting soil and lack of maintenance as the causes.

"Detroit's problem doesn't stop at Eight Mile," said Imad "Matt" Mansour, owner of Mansour's Innovations, a family-owned plumbing, excavation and waterproofing company in Shelby Township. "A lot of the suburbs went up in the same decades with the same clay pipe. In the older south end of Shelby Township, tree roots have had decades to work into the joints."

The pipe is usually yours

The sewer lateral runs from the house to the public sewer, and in most Metro Detroit communities it belongs to the homeowner. Detroit's announcement says homeowners are responsible for their private sewer line "from their home to the City sewer." Warren's engineering division says the same: the property owner maintains the lateral "from the building to the City's sewer mains," and warns that tree roots "seeking moisture make their way into sewer pipe cracks."

Age is the best warning sign. According to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by Stacker, the median home in Wayne County was built in 1956, and the median home in Macomb and Oakland counties in 1975. Homes from those years were often connected with clay tile or cast iron. Some built from the early 1950s to the early 1970s used Orangeburg, a fiber pipe soaked in tar that the City of Ann Arbor says "flattens due to the earth pressure around it."

What goes wrong underground

Mansour's crews find the same few problems again and again:

1. Roots in clay joints. Clay pipe comes in short sections, and every joint is a place for roots to get in. They start as hair and end up filling the pipe.

2. Rusted cast iron. Cast iron rusts from the inside, gets rough, catches debris and eventually cracks.

3. Bellies. A section of pipe sinks, water and waste sit in the low spot, and the line clogs there over and over.

4. Offset or broken joints. Soil shifts and a joint pulls apart, letting dirt in and sewage out.

"The first sign is usually small," Mansour said. "A floor drain that gurgles when the washer drains. A toilet that's slow on dry days. People run a snake through it, it clears, and they forget about it until the roots grow back."

Look before you buy, and before you dig

Standard home inspections usually don't include the sewer line. Mansour recommends a sewer camera inspection before buying any home from the 1960s or 1970s, or older, and before any repair that involves digging.

A camera inspection runs a waterproof camera through the line from a cleanout and records it. A locator above ground marks the depth and position of any problem, so if the line does need work, the crew digs only where it is needed instead of trenching the whole yard. The homeowner watches the footage live and keeps the video.

"The sewer line is the one part of the house nobody looks at before they buy it," Mansour said. "A camera shows you what it would take a backup to tell you. Sometimes the answer is that the line is fine. I'd rather tell somebody that than sell them a repair."

Roots can often be cleared with high-pressure hydro jetting. A sunken or broken section can be dug up and replaced. A line that has failed in several places is replaced from the house to the city connection. Mansour's crew does its own excavation and plumbing, calls MISS DIG to mark utilities before any digging, and pulls the permit.

Homeowners who notice slow drains in more than one fixture, gurgling, sewer odors in the basement, or wet, sunken patches of lawn over the line should have it checked before it backs up.

The company has published details on its sewer camera inspections, sewer line repair and hydro jetting services, along with a guide to what to do when a sewer backs up into a basement.

About Mansour's Innovations

Mansour's Innovations is a family-owned waterproofing, excavation and plumbing contractor based in Shelby Township, Michigan, serving Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties since 2014. Owner Imad "Matt" Mansour has more than 20 years in the trade, and the crew has completed more than 1,600 projects. The company holds a 4.9-star rating on Google, is licensed, bonded and insured, offers free estimates and answers emergency calls 24/7.

Imad Mansour
Mansour’s Innovations
+1 586-345-7292
Info@mansoursinnovations.com