Increasingly, municipal governments, homeowner insurers and homeowners are turning to backwater valves as reliable devices that can be used in tandem with other measures to reduce the likelihood of sewage and/or storm water backing up into basements of homes.
While backwater valves themselves tend not to be particularly complex devices, the manner in which they need to be installed can be complicated depending on how a home’s plumbing and drainage systems are set up. What’s more, simply having a backwater valve isn’t enough to significantly reduce (we never say eliminate) the risk of basement flooding.
This booklet will explain what backwater valves are, what they do, how they can fail, and how they should be inspected and maintained. The booklet will also provide advice on what to consider when having a backwater valve installed and will go through the different types of backwater valves.