Aurora Water · not another city's rule
Who owns the sewer line in Aurora
Aurora does not split the service line into a private half and a city-maintained half out to the main. The owner's duty runs from the building to the tap on the city main, and it includes that connection.
The City's own list
On the wastewater page, property owners are responsible for maintenance and repair of the wastewater service line from the sewer tap to the service address, and for plumbing inside the building. They are responsible for the connection to the city main, including the tee or saddle. They are responsible for street and property damage if work on that service line or tap affects those areas. They locate the service line and tap by calling 811.
Aurora Water is responsible for the city main and the manholes, and for street or property damage associated with that city work. It responds to blockage calls by cleaning or inspecting the city main. It locates the city mains. It maintains more than 1,200 miles of sanitary sewer, cleans hundreds of miles a year, and cameras a smaller share of the main. Those figures describe the public system, not a promise to camera your lateral for free. The free offer is a review of video you already have.
What this changes in a quote
A company that says "the city owns it past the sidewalk" is using some other town's habit. In Aurora, ask them to mark the tap and to say whether the price includes the saddle and the pavement. If they are only cleaning a clog, the drain cleaning page is the better fit. If they want to replace pipe, the scope belongs on sewer line repair, after a camera.
The service-line page adds a materials caution. Homes from before 1985 can have clay laterals. Later homes generally have PVC. Water services are generally copper and cannot be videoed. "Generally" is the City's word. The pipe in the ground decides. Storm drains are a separate system and are not this lateral.
Neighboring cities are not covered by this page. A Denver, Centennial, or county address can sit on a different utility even when the mailing city says Aurora. Confirm the jurisdiction before you borrow this split. This guide does not publish those other rules.
Questions to settle first
Does the city maintain the lower lateral to the main?
Not under Aurora's wastewater page. The owner keeps the service line from the tap to the building and the tee or saddle itself. Aurora Water keeps the main and the manholes. A rule from another city that gives the sidewalk-to-main piece to the city does not apply here. Ask the locator marks and the video where this tap actually is.
What does 811 cover?
The City tells owners to call 811 to locate their sewer service line and tap. Aurora Water locates the city mains. Those are different marks. A quote that starts digging without them is guessing at a pipe the owner will pay to hit, including the street if the tap is in it.
Who reviews a video if I doubt the repair?
Aurora residents can send the plumber's footage to the City for a free second opinion. The wastewater page describes that review. This website is not the intake. Use the camera second-opinion guide so the file shows the tap, the distances, and the defects.
