27400 Southfield Road Lathrup Village, MI 48076
(248) 557-2600

Downspouts and Gutters


Downspouts and Gutters
Footing Drains.JPG

Requirements
As mandated by Ordinance 78-325, all Lathrup Village homes must be equipped with gutters and downspouts that extend at least 5 feet from its footing. According to the same ordinance, downspouts must not be allowed to discharge water directly into the footing drains.

Footing Drains
Because most of the City's residences were built before the 1950s, many Lathrup Village homes have drainage systems that collect water along the footing of the house. Unfortunately,  these "footing drains" discharge the collected groundwater directly into the sanitary sewer instead of the proper stormwater sewer. 

Gutters
Gutters run along the edges of the roof and collect the rainwater before it spills on to the ground around the home. By ordinance, gutters must be clean and functioning as intended to keep water from entering the sanitary sewer via the footing drains. 

Downspouts
Downspouts bring water from the gutters down to ground level. As stated above, downspout extensions must discharge water at least five feet away from the foundation of the home.

Gaining Compliance
Often downspouts extensions are removed by homeowners and landscape companies for easy access to areas where grass needs to be mowed. During inspections conducted in Summer 2008 and April 2009, most of the homes that were cited had all the downspouts present but  many were disconnect from the home.

For these homes, corrections are simple and prevention of future problems can be accomplished by walking around the home each time the grass is cut.  For problems such as missing downspouts and extensions, lack of gutters, or unsealed crock pipes leading to the footing drains corrections can be made with a simple trip to a local hardware store or with a call to a contractor.    

Flow-Based Billing for Sewer
As of 2008, Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner changed the procedure for billing households for sewage. The new  “Flow-Based Billing,” measures the total volume output of a City instead of matching sewer rates with the water usage of each home. Aggressive enforcement of Ordinance 78-325 will help to lower the volume of water in the sanitary sewer system and also sewer bills for households. We ask your help in making each home is in full compliance with the ordinance.