Surprise City Code 58-315: where a private sewer ends and the city's begins

Subsection (a): "Private sewers may be installed with the city's approval. Private sewers must be installed in an exclusive sewer easement and shall not be installed in a general public utility easement."

Subsection (b): "Where a private sewer connects to a public sewer, the connection shall be made at a manhole located within the public right-of-way pursuant to current city guidelines and standards. The sewer line is considered private until it enters the manhole in the public right-of-way. The city will maintain the manhole and all sewers within the public right-of-way."

Three rules follow. A private sewer needs the city's approval before it is installed. It must sit in its own exclusive sewer easement. And the owner's responsibility runs up to the manhole in the public right-of-way, where the city's takes over.

Owners often learn this only when a line fails, because nothing on the property marks where the private line ends. The manhole is the marker the code uses, so finding it on your site plan is the first step in any dispute.

• Private sewer: the code defines it in Art. V as "a lateral, main or trunk sewer controlled and maintained by a private entity."
• Exclusive sewer easement: an easement granted only for the sewer. A general public utility easement, which also carries power and telecom, does not qualify.
• Manhole in the public right-of-way: the access structure in the street or alley where the private line meets the city's system.

Owners and developers of commercial and multifamily property with a private sewer. A single house with an ordinary lateral is covered by Sec. 58-312 instead. The city's own sewers and manholes are not covered, because the city maintains them.

A shopping center with a long private line. A blockage shows up 200 feet from the street. It is on the private side of the manhole, so the center pays.

A plan to use a general utility easement. A developer wants to run the private sewer in the existing general utility easement. The code says it must go in an exclusive sewer easement instead.

The edge case: a break in the street. A failure sits under the street, but before the manhole. It is still the owner's line, so the owner pays, and digging in the street brings in the permits covered on the Sec. 58-312 page.

1. 1Find the site's sewer plan or as-builts and mark where the private line meets the public manhole.
2. 2Confirm a recorded exclusive sewer easement exists for the private line, using your title report or plat.
3. 3Before adding or rerouting a private sewer, get city approval through Community Development (623-222-3000).
4. 4For a failure, get a camera inspection and locate it against the manhole.
5. 5Hire a licensed plumbing contractor. Any work in the street needs the permits described in Sec. 58-312(b).
6. 6Keep the easement and approval records with the property files.

• "The city owns the sewer past my property line." Not necessarily. Where a private sewer connects at a manhole in the right-of-way, it stays private until it enters the manhole. Where it connects at a tap on the public sewer, Sec. 58-312 runs the owner's responsibility through the tap. The code does not say how the two rules fit together, so ask the city which applies to your connection.
• "A utility easement is good enough." Private sewers need an exclusive sewer easement.
• "I can add a private sewer without asking." The code requires city approval.
• "Every city draws the line at the tap." Scottsdale ends the private lateral at the tap on the public sewer, not a manhole.

The rule is Surprise Municipal Code Sec. 58-315 on Municode. It is two short subsections, so read it yourself. Your recorded easement and the city's approval, not this summary, decide a real dispute.