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Grand Rapids Plumbing Fixes

The city of Grand Rapids has had plumbing problems for years. In fact, in 2004 they offered free plumbing and drainage inspections for homeowners in five different flood prone areas of the city. During heavy rains, the drains that run around the foundation of the homes that are supposed to drain into city sewers, have backed up into basements. The rainwater also brought city sewage runoff with it.

Inspections

180 homeowners signed up for the free inspections. When they expanded the program in 2007, 550 more homeowners enlisted. The city set aside $153,000 for the project, sufficient for 30 contracts, and hired only two plumbing contractors to perform all the inspections and repairs. Grand Rapids had an overwhelming response to the free inspection offer. However, some homeowners took the free inspection, but failed to sign up for repairs. Others signed up, and had to wait three years, experiencing more flooding before the city finally repaired the problems by installing a sump pump. The program's response to actual repairs was a slow process, due to a lot of red tape.

Drains

Disconnecting the footing drains and installing sump pumps does not always fix flooding problems, because some homes have bigger concerns. The footing drains of their neighbors at higher elevations drain down to cause a flooding problem. Cities would have to install extensive drainage systems to detour the water around their homes. It takes a lot of finances and planning to meet the challenges of heavy rain overtaking flood prone areas.