Most storm drain trouble in a residential neighborhood comes down to leaves, grass clippings, mulch and silt in a drain opening. Cleaning that debris from a yard drain is a ten-minute job. Cleaning anything in the public street is not yours to do, and it is not safe to try.
Four things people call a storm drain
| What it is | Where you find it | Who clears it |
|---|---|---|
| Street grate or catch basin | In the curb or road edge | The Village. Report it, do not open it |
| Yard or area drain | A grate in a low spot of your lawn or patio | You, or a plumber if it is buried deep |
| Downspout line | A pipe that carries roof water from the gutter underground | You, or a plumber if it is clogged underground |
| Window well drain | At the bottom of a basement window well | You, with a plumber for the pipe below |
| Basement floor drain | A grate in the basement floor | This is usually the sewer, not the storm system. See the note below |
That last row matters. A basement floor drain is normally connected to the sanitary side of your plumbing. If it bubbles during a storm, the cause may be a sewer backup rather than a storm drain, and you want a plumber on the line, not a garden rake.
What you can safely do yourself
- Wait until the rain stops and the standing water is gone. Do not step into pooled water over a drain.
- Wear gloves and lift leaves, sticks and trash off the grate by hand or with a rake.
- Scoop silt out of the basin with a trowel if the grate on your own lot lifts out easily.
- Flush the pipe with a garden hose and watch whether the water leaves quickly or backs up.
- Check each downspout extension and splash block to confirm it carries water at least several feet from the foundation.
- Put the grate back in place so no one trips on an open hole.
Leave the street grate alone
Do not lift a street grate or climb into any public drain, manhole or catch basin. They are heavy, dangerous and part of the Village's system. If one is blocked or flooding, report it to the Village instead.
Why a yard drain keeps backing up
If a drain on your lot fills again after you clean the grate, the blockage is underground. Roots find the joints in buried pipe and grow into them. Silt settles at low points. Crushed or offset pipe holds water at the bend. A hose will not reach any of it.
A cable machine can break through a clog, and a camera shows what the pipe looks like. For heavy silt and root hair, hydro jetting scours the pipe wall with high-pressure water. It suits the large-diameter lines that carry roof and yard runoff because it clears the whole circumference, not just a hole down the middle.
Romeoville note: what the Village asks of residents
The Village of Romeoville's Storm Sewer Program page describes how the system works. Rain that falls on yards runs to the street and into the storm sewer. The Village asks residents to rake leaves and sweep up grass clippings before rain can wash them to the street, and to sweep driveways and walks instead of hosing debris into the gutter. That keeps the grate in front of your house clear.
The Village also publishes a stormwater drainage concern form on its Stormwater Reports page, and its annual stormwater report says Public Works takes calls from property owners about stormwater matters. Use those channels for a blocked street inlet, a flooded road edge or a suspected illegal discharge. The report also notes that the Village's street sweeping program cuts down on catch basin and sewer cleaning, which is another reason to keep clippings out of the road.
Village ordinances prohibit discharging polluted water into natural outlets. Do not rinse paint, oil or pool chemicals into a drain, public or private.
A seasonal checklist
| Season | What to check | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Yard drains, downspout extensions, window well drains | Thaw and heavy rain test everything at once |
| Early summer | Silt and mulch around lawn grates | Fresh mulch washes into low spots fast |
| Fall | Leaves on every grate and gutter | Leaf drop is the top cause of street and yard blockages |
| Late fall | Disconnect hoses, confirm extensions point away from the foundation | Frozen, clogged lines cannot take snowmelt |
Standing water after a storm is not always a blockage. Lockport's city drainage page notes that stormwater may take up to 72 hours to clear after heavy rain, so give a flat lot time before you assume the pipe is stopped. If water is still sitting well beyond that, or it enters a window well, act sooner.
When to call a plumber
- A yard or downspout drain backs up again within days of cleaning
- Water pools against the foundation or fills a window well
- A basement floor drain gurgles or rises during rain
- You see roots, a collapsed section or a sinkhole along a buried pipe
- You are unsure whether a line is storm or sewer
Our drain cleaning crews work on private yard and downspout lines as well as indoor drains. We do not touch Village storm sewers, inlets or manholes. In Joliet, where the city lists hundreds of miles of public storm sewer, and in Lockport, the same split applies between the public system and the pipes on your lot.
Water pooling at the foundation?
Do not wait for the next storm. Call and describe where the water collects and we will schedule an inspection.
Call (630) 822-9290Storm drain questions from Romeoville homeowners
Report it to the Village. Romeoville provides an online stormwater drainage concern form, and Public Works takes calls about stormwater matters. Do not try to open or clear a public inlet yourself.
A pressure washer can loosen debris near the grate, but it pushes silt farther down the pipe. A drain machine or hydro jetter with the right nozzle clears the line properly.
It should not be. Roof water belongs in the storm system or on the surface, away from the house. If you are unsure where a downspout line ends, a camera inspection will show it.
That usually points to the sewer being overloaded or partly blocked, not to a storm drain. Stop using water in the house and call for a main line check.
No. Anything you pour into a storm drain can reach local waterways, and Village ordinances prohibit polluted discharges. Use mechanical cleaning instead.
Look at them each spring and again after leaf drop in the fall. A quick check after any big storm catches trouble early, before the next downpour finds it.