Commercial Drywell Cleaning in Phoenix and the Valley

We clean the sludge off the top of the leach rock. A drywell works because stormwater settles in a chamber and then soaks down through a column of gravel, the leach rock, into the ground. Over the years the chamber collects silt, oil film and trash. Eventually a layer of sludge sits on the leach rock and seals it. Often the rock underneath is still fine. The water just cannot reach it.

So the job is simple to describe. We open the well, take the sludge off the top of the rock, and keep working until the well drains down. The goal is a drywell that takes water again, not a clean-looking chamber. We hold an Arizona A-12 license, the class whose scope names dry wells.

Because of what washes in from the lot. Every storm carries fine dirt, tire dust, leaves and oil from the pavement to the grate. A catch basin ahead of the well catches most of the coarse material, but only if somebody keeps that basin emptied. When the basin fills, the leftover goes straight into the drywell.

ADEQ's guidance puts a number on it: in paved areas, sediment should come out when it fills 10 percent of the settling chamber's effective capacity. That is not much sludge. A lot that has not had its basins cleaned in three or four monsoon seasons is usually well past it.

The other thing that kills drywells is the wrong water. ADEQ says drywells should take only stormwater and urban surface runoff. A drywell that has been taking truck wash water, a leaking dumpster or a floor drain someone tied in is a different problem, and cleaning alone will not hold.

At least every three years, and sooner if water stands. Phoenix's stormwater manual says the regular maintenance schedule cannot be longer than every three years. Maricopa County says the same for drywells in unincorporated areas. ADEQ wants an inspection at least once a year, and again any time water sits longer than 36 hours.

The three-year number is a ceiling, not a target. A strip center with big trees and a dirt lot next door can fill a chamber faster than an office park with clean paving. The inspection tells you which one you are. Keep the record, because Phoenix requires five years of maintenance records and will ask for them.

A contractor whose license class covers it. Arizona's Registrar of Contractors lists dry wells in the scope of the A-12 license (sewers, drains and pipe laying) and the A-4 license (drilling). The plumbing classification's scope lists septic tanks, leaching lines and roof leaders. It does not name dry wells. Before you sign a bid for drywell work, ask the contractor which ROC classification they hold for it, and look the license up. For more on how Arizona's license classes work, see A.R.S. 32-1101.

HQ holds the A-12. Phoenix and the county both put the upkeep duty on the owner, so the license class on the work order is part of the record you keep.

No. Cleaning keeps the well working. The ADEQ Class V inventory is the owner's filing, and the rule is R18-9-I652. If you are not sure your wells are in myDEQ, check that before the next city inspection. Our FAQ on drywell registration walks through it.

If the well will not take water even after the sludge is off, the leach rock or the soil around it has failed. That is a replacement and design question, and a civil engineer decides what goes back. The county's standards say a drywell that cannot drain its basin within 36 hours must be replaced or refurbished by the owner. Our plugged drywell FAQ covers how to tell the difference.

Also check upstream before you pay for a drywell cleaning. If the catch basin is packed or the storm line is blocked, the drywell is not getting the water at all, and the pooling you see has another cause. That is why a standing-water call starts at the grate. The whole sequence is on our parking lot and retention basin drainage page.

And if the water backing up is inside the building, from restroom lines, kitchen drains or a floor drain, that is the sanitary side. That is a job for commercial drain cleaning, not a drywell.

Tell us the address, how long water stands after rain and when the wells were last cleaned. We give free estimates, and you get the price upfront before work starts. After a monsoon storm that leaves a lot flooded, we are available 24/7.