Has anyone looked into the legality of adding a clean out to the sewer line on your property in Los Angeles? I'm sure there are many that have done it and use it all the time. Wonder if there is a fine. I suppose if it's done discretely and there is no spill you can get away with it. But if a neighbor turns you in and hazmat comes, oh boy!I tried calling the city and got transferred around, left messages but no return call.

Here is a link to the Plumbing Forum that I use when I do DIY plumbing stuff. There is a small group of licensed plumbers from around the country that are familiar with general codes and in some cases local codes and are very helpful IF you don't ask questions that indicate you have no idea what you are doing....they really like it when you say you're planning on hiring a professional to do the work!That said, I don't think any local laws prohibit a cleanout...the codes generally talk about the pipe size, height above ground, etc. Think if you had a sewer clog and the plumber came...he could release sewage just by removing the cleanout cap....and nobody is sending a hazmat crew....

ah... you've got some of "THOSE" neighbors hum? We had neighbors like that too once. We ended up moving because every whip stitch they turned us into the zoning board for something. When we checked the zoning board, we found out there were multiple complaints, but nothing they could do because we were still legal. They kept pushing though until they found one ... we had to move the camper completely. We did ... and we moved with the camper! Best thing we could have done! Now, my neighbors "moo" back at me if they don't like something!Wherever you live, you should be able to install a clean out if you don't have one. To be above board though, hire a plumber to do it. How you use it ... well .... that's where good privacy fences are needed! Good luck. Sorry I'm not any help. I'm just saying ... I understand about the neighbors!

Sagecoachdriver wrote:Has anyone looked into the legality of adding a clean out to the sewer line on your property in Los Angeles?Here in Canada, Ontario specifically, we don't have sewer "cleanouts" that can be accessed by the property owner. Instead, I T'd into the main stack which in my house happens to be in the laundry room and ran an extension through the concrete wall to the outside world where I mounted an intake stack. It's a 50' run from there to where I park our trailer on the driveway so I use a FloJet Waste Macerator (a.k.a. Poop Cannon) to macerate and pump the contents of my grey & black water tanks directly into the intake stack. Works like a charm and I never have to visit campground dumpstations. :BA series of 7 pics illustrating my setup starts here.

I have been using a sewer solution kit running it to the side of the house, but it uses so much water. If cleanout is installed, can I run 30 feet of sewer hose to it or is that too much?

I installed one and call it a clean out for the sewer line. That was 20 years ago. Besides a convenient RV dump, it has come in handy a couple of times when tree roots clogged the sewer line. Saved money by shortening the distance the roto-rooter guy has to run the snake.If I was to do it today, I would just use a macerator pump, garden hose, and connect to the existing cleanout. Much easier and less costly plus I would have to dig a 6ft deep hole to get to the sewer line to put in a Tee and pipe above ground.

Adding a cleanout to dump at your home in LA | Good Sam Community

ramyankee
Explorer
Apr 02, 2015
I am in Northern Ca, the northern Sierras.
I put one in at our place. At that time a permit was not required but we are talking about california and their codes. And their penchant for changing codes.
I don't understand you not having a call returned.....Not good business.
RTBabich
Explorer
Apr 01, 2015
tahiti16 wrote:
Rule up here in Ventura county is you can have a clean out but you can not label it a RV dump.

We have several clean outs. I think the requirements are to have a clean out where the line leaves the footings and then every 50 feet after that. The concerns for clean outs are probably not having to use a snake longer than 50 feet and chemicals that get to the sewage treatment plant.
leeper
Explorer
Apr 01, 2015
One house I had, I called the city and requested they install the required clean out that was missing and they did. The house I am now at has a clean out in the front and another in the back yard. I use the back one with no worries of noisy neighbors or smells, I can't be seen!
SFVdave
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015
OutdoorPhotgrapher wrote:
Now when we moved to RI, my popup was in the drive for the first couple days while I got my garage settled and we were reported to the home owners association. My response: "the moving van left yesterday. It's going in the garage this weekend." Their response: "you have 24 hours to get it out of site." And I've found that some neighbors don't like that you can see it through the garage window. Thankfully I'm a renter passing through on military orders.

I would never buy or live in a house with such restrictions. We live in the old suburbs of LA. New ones have those CCR's. Can't even change the color of your house.

Tahiti16 wrote:
Rule up here in Ventura county is you can have a cleanout but you can not label it a RV dump.

Same here in LA.
OutdoorPhotogra
Explorer
Mar 27, 2015
I lived in Central CA for five years. Our house had a cleanout that was convenient to my RV parking although I never used it since never upgraded from a pop-up to a TT. For all CA's regulations, our proximity to the National Parks meant there was a high percentage of home owners with RVs. I installed a gate and paved parking with a 30 Amp hookup which was convenient for me and a huge plus when selling.

Now when we moved to RI, my popup was in the drive for the first couple days while I got my garage settled and we were reported to the home owners association. My response: "the moving van left yesterday. It's going in the garage this weekend." Their response: "you have 24 hours to get it out of site." And I've found that some neighbors don't like that you can see it through the garage window. Thankfully I'm a renter passing through on military orders.
tahiti16
Explorer
Mar 27, 2015
Rule up here in Ventura county is you can have a cleanout but you can not label it a RV dump.
ernie1
Explorer
Mar 22, 2015
The houses built in the Sacramento area have two cleanouts in the sewer lines. One is located out in the front yard close to the main sewer line and the other is close to the house. I use my cleanout that is located out in the front yard so that I can park my rv in the street and dump away via a tight line with no spillage. Have been doing this for years with no problem. I can only think of a potential problem being from a neighbor who doesn't understand the process of waste disposal and would call the health department where I used to work as an inspector who would field these types of complaints. Heck we didn't care if a person dumped his rv down the sewer. That's where this material is supposed to go. We would be concerned if there was some sort of permanent type connection where a person was living in an rv in violation of zoning codes or if there was some sort rv dump station built and connected to the cleanout illegally. Otherwise I see nothing illegal about having a cleanout for your sewer line which is required by law.
slomark
Explorer
Mar 22, 2015
I use a macerator pump, an old garden hose, and remove the kitchen sink clean out plug on the exterior of the house.
C_Schomer
Explorer
Mar 21, 2015
Any other RV dump site in the city would go to the city waste water treatment so I don't know why it would hurt. I teed into my cleanout riser and ran 50' to my RV pad. I think technically the riser should be vented cuz I now have a 50' dirty arm. I don't know what the length limit is for a 3" dirty arm but it never causes any vent siphoning. I imagine all the other vents in the system are preventing siphoning at the individual fixtures. Anyway, it works great! Craig
RollandB
Explorer
Mar 18, 2015
Thanks Soundguy, that is the exact one I had in mind. I appreciate the link.