BFP for SHTF in the city

[LightningCrash]

So in a SHTF scenario if you're bugging in city-side, obviously your toilets might not work.

But secondly, if SHTF to that extreme, the sewer might not work either.

So this means any problems in the sewer will quickly become bigger problems, and some of them problems might travel back up your sewer line into your home.


Have any of you considered a backflow preventer for your sewer line?

I'm curious if you think it's a risk that needs mitigation.

 

[SMS]

Hmmm. Interesting thought.

Does being on high ground help? I would think it would.

 

[dennishoddy]

I have a septic tank. I'm prepared!

As long as I don't run out of TP or clean socks.........

 

[subprep]

Back flow preventers are good to have on a house anytime you have a city system that is either questionable at handling the amounts of water etc injected into the sewer systems during heavy rain or during emergency issues when sewers may fail. In fact some towns sewer systems are so poor at handling large amounts of rain fall that the city will actually give a homeowner the backflow preventer for free, you still have to pay a plumber to install one correctly though. Check with your area plumbers that are not goody goody with the city folks to see if your town is supposed to be giving them to home owners because some towns like to keep that on the DL.

 

[EFsDad]

Top o the hill here. And it always flows downhill. I might feel bad for the people downstream but I'll probably keep using the sewers for as long as I can.

If I weren't, I would look into it.

 

[jrusling]

Hmmm. Interesting thought.

Does being on high ground help? I would think it would.

Yes, I also live on higher ground.

 

[rlongnt]

I must have a knack for bad stuff but similar to having personally smelled the inside of a turkey vulture I have seen firsthand what can happen here too, unfortunately in my parents home while I was there! The most important thing you need to know is free! Find your cleanout cap for your sewer pipes. It is the white cap in your yard with a square on top & you can easily get of with anything from a crescent wrench to water pump pliers. If you unscrew it in a backflow emergency 95%+ of your problem simply goes in your yard.

If you don’t get to it, don’t know where it is, or it happens when you aren’t there. First, your bathtub starts to fill with raw sewage, then your toilets overflow with the same stuff. This folks is everything going down everyone else’s toilet, sinks, garbage disposals etc. PS I sure hope you don’t have a hospital upstream from you… We did!

First things first, open all the doors so it can go somewhere besides inside your walls! After the event stabilizes you will be left with an inch of toilet paper, paper machete like filth with all manner of floating crud permanently calling your carpet/home its home.

You don’t need this info just for SHTF scenarios either. In our case a tap from someone’s house down the street breaking off and dropping just 3” into them main caused this disaster. This can happen to anyone anywhere. These were all homes less than 10 years old at the time too.

I have never since moved anywhere where I didn’t know where that darn cleanout/cap was.

All I can say is after all that my aerobic septic system is pretty cool : )

 

[LightningCrash]

Talking to a friend of mine he thought that OKC code required that if you didn't have a BFP, then any time a contractor replaces anything on your sewer line he will have to add one.

Going to do the Googles later to find out.