Collection System

About Our Collection System

The County’s wastewater collection system provides service to homes, industries, and commercial establishments. Wastewater is domestic and process water from any drain leaving a home, industry, or commercial establishment that enters the collection system. The County maintains over 100 miles of collection system sewers & force mains, and has programs to ensure our customers can “flush with confidence”. To accomplish this, the County routinely cleans sewer lines and performs preventive maintenance and repairs. The County also maintains an active sewer rehabilitation program that refurbishes, or replaces, aged pipes and manholes.

Pump stations or “lift stations” are another vital piece to the County’s collection system. There are 13 pump stations located throughout the County’s collection system and these pump stations work to pump the wastewater from a lower elevation to a higher elevation where it can flow by gravity.

Experiencing a Sewer Backup?

If you experience a sewer system backup, or observe a clean out or sewer manhole overflowing; please contact the County as soon as possible by calling the Utilities Division at (919) 560-9033, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays to determine if you are one of our customers. If you are one of our customers, the County will assess the stoppage to determine if the blockage is on the County's side of the sewer line or the homeowner's side of the sewer line.

Durham County will clear blockages that occur in the main sewer line or in the sewer lateral, from the main line to the clean out pipe at the edge of the property or right-of-way. The sewer clean out is a vertical, capped, 4" pipe that provides direct access to the sewer system.

Homeowners are responsible for blockages that occur in the sewer lateral, located between the clean out pipe and the dwelling. If there is no clean out pipe at the edge of the property, the homeowner is responsible for blockages that occur anywhere in the sewer lateral.