McDonough, 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 McDonough's sewer system. If a manhole is overflowing or the neighbors have the same backup, that points to the city's mains and goes to the city; for the building sewer on your property, call us at (404) 482-2527.

The Henry County Water Authority has its headquarters in McDonough, but the city's sewer service does not come from the authority. The City of McDonough runs its own collection system and treatment plant, writes its own sewer rules into the city code, and issues its own plumbing permits.

That makes your utility bill the first thing to check. Outside the city limits, the Henry County Water Authority is the county's sewer utility; if the city bills you for sewer, the rules below apply.

The City of McDonough bills water and sewer together. New customers apply at City Hall on a combined water, sewer and sanitation application and pay a deposit to establish water and sewage services, and bills go out monthly (Utility Billing).

Wastewater goes to the city's Walnut Creek Water Pollution Control Plant, north of town where Camp Creek meets Walnut Creek. The plant dates to 1971, can treat 2 million gallons a day and runs around the clock, with staff on site 12 hours a day and an on-call policy for emergencies. The same wastewater staff look after the city's 12 pump stations, which are checked daily (Wastewater Treatment). Despite the similar name, this is a city plant, separate from the water authority's much larger Walnut Creek facility.

Your water may come from a different utility than your sewer. The city code charges its sewer connection fee for each water meter in service "whether such meter is owned by the City or Henry County" (13.08.060), so a county water bill does not rule out city sewer.

Inside city limits, plumbing permits come from the city's Building & Inspection Division, which reviews plans, issues permits and inspects construction. It publishes its own plumbing permit application and takes next-day inspection requests by phone before 4 p.m. Henry County's building department confirms that McDonough handles its own permitting rather than the county (Henry County).

Sewer connections add a city sign-off. No one may uncover, connect to or alter a public sewer without a written permit from the city maintenance engineer, the owner must notify the city when the building sewer is ready for inspection before any of it is buried, and only an authorized city representative may make the connection to the public sewer (13.08.060). If your job needs a permit, we tell you before work starts. Georgia 811 asks everyone to request a locate at least three business days before digging (Georgia 811), and the law requires it before digging with machines (dig law).

Two parts of the city code keep rainwater out of the sewer. Section 13.08.060 bans connecting roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or any other source of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer that drains to the public sewer, and section 13.08.070 forbids discharging stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff or subsurface drainage into the sanitary sewer at all.

The same section lists solids that may not go down the drain, including rags, plastics, sand, and paper dishes, cups or milk cartons, whether whole or ground up in a garbage grinder. Restaurants and other users with grease interceptors must have them pumped completely at least every 90 days and may not use enzyme or bacterial additives (13.08.110). At home, the habits in what not to flush or pour do the same job, and when we find a downspout or foundation drain tied into a sewer line, we tell you so it can be separated.

Check your bill first: if the City of McDonough charges you for sewer, keep the city's Sewer Collections contacts handy for anything on the public side. For your building sewer, we locate or put in a cleanout through sewer cleanout installation and repair, clear stoppages with main sewer line cleaning or hydro jetting, and use a sewer camera inspection to decide whether the line needs repair or replacement that meets the city's placement rules. Call Georgia Sewer at (404) 482-2527.