Cartersville, GA Sewer and Drain Service: Local Rules

Georgia Sewer clears, inspects and repairs the private side of sewer and water lines for homes served by the City of Cartersville Water Department in Cartersville. Clearing a clog anywhere in the lateral is the owner's job under city code, and that is work we do; when a defective lateral needs repair between the cleanout or property line and the city main, or the main itself has a problem, the Water Department handles it, and we tell you when that is the call to make.

Cartersville runs a full water and sewer utility: it treats drinking water from Lake Allatoona, collects the city's wastewater and treats it before discharge to the Etowah River. Its code has a two-part rule for the line between your house and the main. Clearing a clog is your job along the whole lateral, but repairing a broken lateral near the street is the city's.

The Cartersville Water Department says the community's wastewater is collected in more than 170 miles of sewer lines and carried to its Water Pollution Control Plant, where it is treated to Georgia Environmental Protection Division standards before it goes into the Etowah River (Cartersville Water Department). The plant is a 15-million-gallon-a-day activated sludge facility, and the biosolids it produces are applied to farmland under a state-approved program (Cartersville Treatment Facilities).

A Distribution and Collection Division of 19 people maintains the water and sewer lines across Cartersville's 28-square-mile service area. They make sewer and water taps, renew and upgrade services, video sewer lines to check for blockages and replace old lines (Cartersville Distribution). The system also takes flow from a neighbor: Emerson's privately funded Red Top sewer sends sewage to Cartersville for treatment under an intergovernmental agreement that allows up to 1.1 million gallons a day (City of Emerson).

City code requires approval from the city manager for water and sewer lines outside the city limits (Cartersville Code § 24-41(e)), so service doesn't automatically follow a Cartersville mailing address. Check that your bill comes from the City of Cartersville.

The Cartersville Building Department reviews plans and issues permits for residential and commercial work, with plans reviewed by the Building Official and Fire Marshal. Contractors need a valid state license and a current city or county business license, specialty contractors such as plumbers must show both before a permit is issued, and homeowners applying for their own permits may be exempt from the business license requirement. Applications go through the city's OpenGov portal (Cartersville Building Department).

Sewer work has extra steps. All water and sewer taps must be made by, or under the supervision of, the Water Department (Cartersville Code § 24-41(c)). Uncovering, connecting to or altering a public sewer requires a written permit from the superintendent, and the connection is made under the superintendent's supervision (Cartersville Code § 24-81).

A lateral repair near the main means excavation, and Georgia 811 asks for a free locate request at least three business days before it; state law requires the request for mechanized digging (Georgia 811; Georgia dig law). Under that law, Cartersville's help in locating a lateral reaches only to the edge of the public right-of-way. If the job needs a permit, we tell you before work starts.

City code forbids connecting roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer that drains to the public sewer (Cartersville Code § 24-81(h)). Grease interceptors are required at restaurants and other food businesses but not for residential users (Cartersville Code § 24-91(c)), so at home it comes down to keeping grease and wipes out of the drain; see what not to flush or pour.

Cartersville won't extend water to a house that doesn't have either public sewer or a waste disposal system approved by the state health department (Cartersville Code § 24-41(a)). Septic permits and evaluations in Bartow County go through Bartow County Environmental Health, part of Northwest Georgia Public Health (NW Georgia Public Health offices).

Because Cartersville owners must clear their lateral all the way to the city main, our technicians handle drain cleaning, main sewer line cleaning and root intrusion removal along the whole line. We use sewer camera inspection to show whether you have a clog or a broken pipe, and on your side of the property line we do sewer line repair, cleanout installation and repair and water line repair from the meter box to the house. To book a visit, call Georgia Sewer at (404) 482-2527 or request service.