Onondaga County
Drain and Sewer Cleaning on Camillus and Fairmount Laterals
If a Camillus line keeps collapsing rather than simply blocking, that is the expected finding here and it needs a camera before it needs a cable. 53.4 percent of the town was built between 1940 and 1969, the highest mid-century share of any town in the county, and the census place of Fairmount inside it reaches 72.3 percent.
Request a quote in Camillus
Share a few details so we can confirm coverage and arrange the right next step.
Would you rather talk it through? Call (315) 640-3590, answered 24/7.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
Why a Camillus line collapses instead of blocking
Camillus has 11,481 housing units with a median year built of 1966 and 53.4 percent built between 1940 and 1969, the highest mid-century share of any town in Onondaga County, and the census place of Fairmount inside the town reaches 72.3 percent. Those are precisely the years bituminized fiber sewer pipe, sold as Orangeburg, was in production, so a repeatedly collapsing or oval line here is the expected finding rather than the surprising one. That changes the order of work. Ann Arbor's building department, which has published more on this pipe than anyone, describes it as plant fibers and asbestos soaked in a tar-like substance, records that no municipal record identifies which houses have it, lists a video scan of the line as the way to find out, and warns that inserting a rooter, snake or mechanical cutter may yield clues but may also further damage the pipe. On a Camillus house of the right age, the camera goes in first. The county is demonstrating the repair logic on its own pipe a few streets away. It is rehabilitating the 24-inch pressurized force main that carries wastewater from the Village and Town of Camillus to the Metropolitan plant, in service for over forty years, using cured-in-place lining with excavation at only two points, running from December 2025 to March 2027 along Woodmont Drive, Reed Webster Park and the Warners Road crossing, with roughly five weeks of disturbance at any one property and a temporary chemical odor from the curing steam. Lining an old but intact pipe instead of digging it up is the same argument that applies to a household lateral. In the village the water risk is Nine Mile Creek, which has flooded several times, with hundreds of dead trees upstream that can catch on the Main Street Bridge and expose 150 residences, and a trench drain at Genesee and Union as the village's answer since 2013.
If it has collapsed before, do not send a cable down it again
Tell us how many times the line has failed and we will say whether a survey has to come first.
Lining, root and drain work we arrange in town and village
Clogged and Slow Drain Cleaning
Get one slow or blocked fixture running again, and find out whether the fault stops at that fixture or carries on out to the street.
Drain Cleaning in Camillus →Sewer Line Cleaning and Root Removal
Clear the one pipe that carries the whole house out to the street, take the roots or the grease out of it, and establish where along that run the blockage actually sat.
Sewer Line Cleaning in Camillus →Sewer Backup and Basement Flooding
Get the line open and the house draining again, then establish whether the water came from your own lateral or from the system in the street.
Sewer Backup in Camillus →Sewer Line Inspection and Repair
Find out what is actually wrong with the lateral, how far along the run it sits, and whether the answer is a cleaning, a spot repair or a replacement.
Sewer Line Repair in Camillus →The Camillus force main is being lined, not dug up
The Town of Camillus has 11,481 housing units with a median year built of 1966. Of those, 53.4 percent were built between 1940 and 1969, the highest mid-century share of any town in Onondaga County, while only 9.2 percent were built before 1950.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year, tables B25034 and B25035, accessed 2026-09-08
Share of housing built between 1940 and 1969, the years bituminized fiber sewer pipe was in production under federal Commercial Standard CS116, in the places of Onondaga County: Fairmount 72.3 percent, Seneca Knolls 71.8, Westvale 71.2, Galeville 70.6, Mattydale 65.4, Nedrow 59.1, Lyncourt 56.1, North Syracuse village 55.3, DeWitt hamlet 51.9, Fayetteville village 45.4, Manlius village 44.3, Lakeland 40.7, Solvay village 39.9, Camillus village 38.1, Marcellus village 35.3, Syracuse city 33.4, East Syracuse village 33.1, Minoa village 29.5, Liverpool village 29.3, Baldwinsville village 22.2 and Skaneateles village 20.8.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, accessed 2026-09-08
The City of Ann Arbor's building department describes Orangeburg as the brand name of a bituminous fiber pipe made from plant-based fibers and asbestos soaked in a tar-like substance, manufactured to ASTM D-1861 for homogeneous pipe and ASTM D-1862 for the laminated wall version, and states that bituminous fiber piping systems have experienced numerous failures over the years with many needing complete replacement. It puts the usage window at roughly the early 1950s to the early 1970s, with reports of it in homes as early as 1949, and notes that no municipal record identifies which houses have it. It lists a video scan of the line as a way to identify it and warns that inserting a rooter, snake or mechanical cutter may yield clues but may also further damage the pipe.
Source: City of Ann Arbor, Building, Rental and Inspection Services, accessed 2026-09-08
WEP is rehabilitating a 24-inch pressurized sewage force main that has been in service for over 40 years and conveys wastewater from the Village and Town of Camillus to the Metropolitan plant on Hiawatha Boulevard. The method is cured-in-place pipe lining, requiring excavation at only two points, with the liner inserted, inflated and heat cured to form a new pipe inside the old one. Construction runs from December 2025 to March 2027 along Woodmont Drive, Reed Webster Park and the Warners Road crossing, with roughly five weeks of disturbance at any one property and a temporary chemical odor from the curing steam.
Source: Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection, accessed 2026-09-08
The Village of Camillus annex to the 2025 county hazard mitigation plan states that Nine Mile Creek flows through the Village and has flooded several times, that heavy rain floods areas near the Creek, and that hundreds of dead trees lying in the Creek upstream are carried down in a flood and can catch on the Village's Main Street Bridge, exposing 150 residences. Mitigation action VC-1, added in 2013, is to install a trench drain on Genesee Street at the intersection of Union Street to reduce stormwater flooding damage to nearby residences.
Source: Onondaga County 2025 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, accessed 2026-09-08
Tell us what keeps happening to your Camillus line
Send your ZIP code and what you are seeing. There is no obligation, and lining is often the answer instead of a trench.