Cesspools overflowing, collapsing following heavy snowfall, melting

January and February are usually two of the slowest months in the local cesspool industry — but not this year, said Salvatore Motta, the CEO of Melville-based Quick Drain.

In the wake of heavy snow, some cesspool professionals have found themselves responding to a higher volume of calls — and for issues of greater severity — than usual, experts said.

"With the snow, we're still staying very busy, and we've been busier than normally, pumping and cleaning and repairing," Motta said. 

Most years, demand picks up in April and May when the Island receives more rain, Motta said.

"We've seen nothing but collapses the past few months," said cesspool professional Anthony Naccarato, of Affordable Cesspool Sewer & Drain Service Inc. in Islandia.

There are "major issues with snow like this and wet land," Naccarato said. A friend of his was clearing a pathway for the mail carrier when the ground collapsed directly underneath him, he added.

Homes built before 1972 often have cinderblock or brick cesspools, which experts said are the most vulnerable.

"Block and brick cesspools, it's just a matter of when they're going to collapse, not if. When they're going to implode on themselves," Naccarato said. "It's very dangerous."

Over the next three or four months, Naccarato said he expects to see an "extreme amount of collapses" because of the ground bearing extra weight.

Older homes often have illegal cesspool access pipes, Motta said. In some cases, these were installed as a temporary fix and never replaced, he added.

"The problem is that these illegal standpipes are essentially just a sleeve of pipe over a hole cut in the lid," Motta said in an email. "Once that happens, rainwater and snow melt can easily run directly into the cesspool, which causes the system to fill much faster than it normally would."

This creates what Motta said can seem like a sudden change: when rain or snowmelt seep in through illegal access points, the system appears to have "filled up 'from nowhere,' " he explained.

The price of repair varies by situation, but Motta estimated it could cost

between $2,000 and $3,000

to hire a company to locate the access pipe, excavate to reach he top of the cesspool or septic tank, remove a broken lid and install concrete risers to bring the cover to grade with the now-required locking manhole cover.

For years, Kellie Levy did not know she had a second cesspool in her Kings Park backyard. When she noticed a backyard drain was backing up, she had it pumped more than once before Motta diagnosed the issue.

Motta discovered an illegal access pipe that invited rainwater into the cesspool. Since he dug it up and brought it to code about a year ago, Levy, an agent for Keller Williams, has not had any cesspool trouble, she said.

"As soon as he opened it, he said, 'this is the problem,' and now we have a really nice cap on there, and the only thing that's going into the cesspool is what should be going into the cesspool," Levy said.

She recommends her clients have a cesspool inspection before buying a property, she said, and for first-time homebuyers sometimes pays for the inspection to make sure they buy "a good, solid home."

At one Port Jefferson listing, she said, the cesspool collapsed before the inspection. The sellers replaced the cesspool, she said. 

"It's just a good thing that it didn't happen after they moved into the house," she said.