Drainage and plumbing, South Slope Burnaby
Drainage and Plumbing in South Slope, Burnaby
South Slope is named after the hill and the name is the diagnosis. The City’s contours run from about 6 m at the Marine Drive edge to about 124 m at the top, and five creek ravines are cut into that hillside.
Your perimeter drain is not emptying onto a flat street grid here. It is heading downhill into a ravine. We camera the line before anybody quotes a number.
Five ravines, one hill, and everything runs downhill into them
South Slope holds five named creek ravine parks: Kaymar, Gray, John Matthews, Froggers and Boundary. The creeks the City maps inside the boundary are Kaymar, Gray, John Matthews, Froggers, Sussex and Boundary, and eight named City drainage catchments touch the area. Which one your house drains into is a real, checkable thing.
Burnaby’s own waterways booklet says it without hedging. The lands around every home, business and City street drain rainwater into the storm sewer through drain tiles and catch basins, and all storm sewers discharge that runoff directly into waterways. South Burnaby’s creeks end up in the north arm of the Fraser. So the yard drain in your back garden is plumbed to a salmon creek. Worth knowing before anybody pours anything down it.
There is no combined sewer under South Slope. The City’s combined main layer returns nothing inside the boundary, and Burnaby says only 7% of its sewers still need separating, in Burnaby Heights and Glenbrook. This neighbourhood was built separated. That is good news, and it also means a wet basement here points at the private side rather than at a City main mixing rain with sewage.
The shape of the ground is the other half of it. The City’s 2018 contours run from about 6 m at the Marine Drive edge up to about 124 m inside the boundary, which is 118 m of fall across one neighbourhood. Carson, Portland, McKee, Rumble, Marine, Patrick, Ewart, Keith and Southwood carry most of the parcels, and where you sit on that fall decides whether your lot sheds water or receives it. A lot at the bottom of a run is dealing with everything the lots above it let go.
Signs worth acting on in South Slope
This is a single family hillside. 4,011 of 4,073 parcels are not strata, and 95% of the buildings stand under 10 m. Which means when something goes wrong, it is your pipe and your bill.
- A wet basement or crawl space every autumn, especially on a lot below the neighbours
- Slow drains through the whole house at the same time, which usually means the main
- The toilet gurgles when the sink drains
- A floor drain that backs up only during heavy rain
- Standing water in a yard that used to drain away
- A sump pump that never shuts off
- Sewer smell in a basement, which is often a floor drain trap that has dried out
- The curb catch basin outside your place ponding instead of taking water
The pipe under South Slope is 1960s clay, and the City wrote it down
This is not a guess about how old the houses look. The City of Burnaby’s open asset register maps 741 sanitary main segments inside the South Slope plan area. 620 of them are vitrified clay. 679 were installed in 1962, 1963 or 1964. On the property side there are 2,470 sanitary service connections, and 1,897 of those were made between 1960 and 1964.
Clay pipe fails at the joint. Roots find the joint. That is the whole story on this hillside, and for once it is a documented story rather than a plumber’s hunch.
The storm side is a different mix. 1,106 storm mains, mostly concrete at 682 segments, then PVC, clay, asbestos cement and a few others. There are 974 City catch basins inside the boundary, which is a lot of grates to keep clear on a hill that sheds leaves into five ravines.
One more thing the register makes plain. Nobody recorded what your own lateral is made of. 2,089 of the 2,470 sanitary service lines have no material logged at all. The City does not know. That is exactly why we put a camera down it instead of telling you what is probably there.
It is also a single family hillside, right next door to Metrotown’s towers. 4,011 of 4,073 legal parcels are not strata, 6,565 of 6,657 buildings are classed residential, and the median building height is 6 m. The tallest thing in the whole area is 14 m. So there is no strata council to split the bill with. The pipe from the house to the property line is yours.
What Burnaby and Vancouver customers say
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I had very positive experience with Mamba Services, Ryan was amazing to work with and took care of my drain issues in no time. He arrived on time, was very professional and efficient in carrying out the work. What impressed me was how honest he was in recommending needed repair. He was very patient in explaining the different options. I will certainly call them for future projects.
Had an excellent experience. Ryan was fantastic, it was an after hours call late in the evening and he showed up exactly in the time frame he gave. Took care of the kitchen sink issue within minutes all systems were running like new. Pricing was extremely reasonable, Ryan was patient and explained everything to me while fixing my problem. I would highly recommend this company for any plumbing work.
Ryan was efficient, experienced, and knowledgeable. He was able to squeeze me into his schedule with short notice and wasted no time with my appointment. He arrived on site inspected the issue, and was quickly at work with resolving the problem. I am very pleased with his service and honesty. He provided recommendations that will help assist me in future occurrences.
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Drainage problem in South Slope?
Ryan picks up. Live dispatch, and you get a real arrival window on the call. We camera the line before anybody quotes a number, and there is no travel fee anywhere in Burnaby.
South Slope drainage and plumbing FAQ
Early 1960s, almost all of it. The City maps 741 sanitary main segments inside the plan area, 679 of them installed in 1962, 1963 or 1964, and 620 of the 741 are vitrified clay. Property connections follow the same pattern, with 1,897 of 2,470 made between 1960 and 1964.
Because clay pipe is jointed and a root only needs one gap. With 620 clay mains under these streets and laterals from the same era feeding them, roots are the normal failure here. Cutting them clears the line. It does not close the joint, which is why we scope it and show you where the damage actually is.
No. The City’s combined main layer returns nothing inside the South Slope boundary, and Burnaby names only Burnaby Heights and Glenbrook as the neighbourhoods still needing separation. This area was built with separate storm and sanitary systems.
Into a creek. Burnaby’s waterways booklet says the land around homes and streets drains into the storm sewer through drain tiles and catch basins, and that all storm sewers discharge straight into waterways. South Burnaby’s creeks end up in the north arm of the Fraser. It is the reason the Watercourse Bylaw exists.
It means the pump is fighting more water than it should be seeing. On this hillside that is usually surface water and a perimeter drain that has silted or collapsed, not some rising water table. We check the pump and the drain together, because a new pump on a dead drain just fails again later.
Only if you are right on the eastern edge. Byrne Creek Ravine forms the eastern boundary of South Slope rather than running through it, and the creeks actually inside the area are Kaymar, Gray, John Matthews, Froggers, Sussex and Boundary. We would rather tell you which catchment you are in than sell you a creek you do not live near.
Yes. Kaymar Creek was called Dump Creek in the 1930s, and the City says the name referred to the garbage dump that filled the ravine above Rumble Street. Buried fill changes how an excavation gets planned, so it is worth saying out loud before a shovel goes in.
Three things, all straight off the City’s flood prevention page. Clean the perimeter drains often, because they block with leaves, pine needles, silt, dirt and roots. Check that the curb gutter and catch basin next to your property are clear. Run your downpipes onto splash pads so roof water soaks into the lawn and garden.
The City for anything in the road. Burnaby takes flooding and safety hazard reports on 604-294-7200, with 604-294-7221 for non urgent drainage questions. Anything on your side of the property line is ours.
Often. Relining and pipe bursting go in through small access pits rather than a trench down the length of the property. We scope the line first and tell you whether the site allows it before anyone plans a dig.
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Water where it should not be?
Ryan picks up. Live dispatch, and you get a real arrival window on the call.