Flooded Basement Cleanup Clinton Township MI

Where Clinton Township's Sewage Goes After It Leaves Your House

Clinton Township is the most populous township in Michigan, with 100,513 people at the 2020 Census, and all of their wastewater has to go somewhere. It leaves your house through your own sewer lateral, enters one of the township's nine sanitary sewer districts, and then flows into the Macomb Interceptor Drain. That county-run interceptor serves about 600,000 people in 11 Macomb communities and carries their sewage to the Great Lakes Water Authority treatment plant in Detroit.

The interceptor itself is an 11-foot concrete pipe buried about 60 feet down. It runs from Sterling Heights through Fraser and Clinton Township and ends at the Clintondale Pump Station near the Harrison Township line. When it collapsed under 15 Mile Road in Fraser on Christmas Eve 2016, it opened a sinkhole and left a sediment problem behind. By 2023 the county was pulling an estimated 6,000 tons of sediment out of the line, in places 24 to 36 inches deep, on a project estimated at $37 million. Less room in the pipe means less room for sewage during a storm.

The county has also spent more than $4 million on chemical grouting to keep sewers stable inside the township. Crews grouted the Macomb Interceptor under Garfield Road near M-59 through the winter of 2020 to 2021. In 2021 they moved to the Lakeshore Interceptor, a separate 11-foot line that crosses under the Clinton River near I-94 and North River Road.

Sewage Backup Cleanup in Clinton Township: Your Lateral, the Township's Main

Clinton Township runs separate storm and sanitary sewers, but the sanitary side has a rough history. The township reported 86 sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) from 2000 through 2014, including 20 in 2011 alone. Some pump stations used to relieve extra sewage into storm sewers that drain to Lake St. Clair, a practice the township has since ended. After about $35 million of work over 20 years, including relief sewers in District E, the state reports the township has averaged less than one overflow a year since 2017, and none of those were caused by wet weather.

That progress matters, but it doesn't help a homeowner whose own line is the problem. Under township ordinance, the sewer lateral, usually a 6-inch pipe, is installed and maintained entirely by the property owner. The township's Water and Sewer Division looks after the mains in the right-of-way, which are usually 10 inches or larger. Any contractor repairing a lateral must be registered with the division, insured and bonded, and the township suggests a camera inspection to find a blockage.

So when sewage comes up a floor drain, the first question is where the clog is. A blocked main can push sewage into several basements on a street. A blocked lateral usually floods just one. Either way, the water is Category 3 black water, and our sewer backup cleanup crews treat it that way: full protective gear, removal of soaked porous materials, then cleaning, antimicrobial treatment and drying.

Three Branches of the Clinton River Meet Here

The township is named for the Clinton River, and the river forms from three branches inside its borders before flowing east through Harrison Township to Lake St. Clair. The North Branch and the Middle Branch both come together with the main river within the township. That is why river flooding in Clinton Township can come from more than one direction, and why the National Weather Service tracks more than one gauge for the area.

The main gauge sits at Moravian Drive at Mount Clemens. Flood stage there is 16 feet. According to the Weather Service's impact notes, low spots on Romeo Plank Road near the Partridge Creek golf course and on Cass Avenue can flood at 17 feet, often when the Middle Branch runs high at the same time as the main branch. At 18 feet, significant flood damage occurs mainly between Groesbeck Road and the flood bypass canal.

That canal is the Clinton River Spillway, built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1950 to cut off floodwater for Mount Clemens, Harrison Township and Clinton Township. The worst crest on record at the Moravian Drive gauge is still 23.55 feet in April 1947, before the spillway existed. Since then, the river has topped flood stage several times, including 18.71 feet in May 2004.

Storms That Flooded Clinton Township Basements

Clinton Township basements have taken on water from river flooding, sewer backups and blocked drains in the same decade. These are the events we can document:

• July 2013: Overnight storms left flooded basements on Hillcrest, in the Cass and Groesbeck area.
• August 11 to 12, 2014: The Weather Service recorded 4 to 6 inches of rain in about four hours across Wayne, southern Oakland and Macomb counties. The Clinton River crested at 16.63 feet at Mount Clemens on August 12, and Macomb County was part of federal disaster declaration DR-4195.
• June 25 to 26, 2021: The river reached 17.2 feet near Clinton Township on the morning of June 26, with moderate flooding. Macomb County was later added to federal disaster DR-4607.
• January 2024: The North Branch near Mount Clemens rose to 15.3 feet against a 15-foot flood stage, with a forecast crest of 15.8 feet. The township's public safety alert warned that water could reach the foundations of a few homes along the Middle Branch near Cass Avenue.
• Summer and fall 2024: After August storms, a longtime resident told reporters water was getting into his house while his yard stood flooded. In December, county crews pulled logs, railroad ties and tires out of the Teske Drain near Kelly Road south of 15 Mile, and the water level dropped 3 feet once the big debris was out.

The pattern is worth noticing. Big river crests get the headlines, but a single clogged drain or culvert can flood one neighborhood on a day the river is nowhere near flood stage.

Who to Call in Clinton Township When the Basement Floods

Who you call depends on what failed. Clinton Township's Department of Public Services runs the Water and Sewer Division at the Civic Center, 40700 Romeo Plank Road. Here is who handles what:

• Sanitary sewer backup, business hours: Water and Sewer, 586-286-9300 (weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).
• Sewer backup or main break, after hours: 586-469-5502. Police Dispatch answers and sends the on-call dutyman, with no service fee.
• Township main line: 586-286-8000.
• Permits for repair work: Building Department, 586-286-9323.
• Sewage or pollution reaching a drain or the river: Macomb County 24-hour pollution hotline, 1-877-679-4337, or the state PEAS line, 1-800-292-4706.

Not every drainage problem belongs to the township. When a resident's yard flooded in 2024, the township supervisor said the culverts in question were the Macomb County Department of Roads' responsibility. County drains like the Teske Drain fall under Macomb County Public Works. If water pours off a road or out of a ditch, ask which agency owns it before you wait on a callback from the wrong office.

The 45-day rule comes from Michigan Public Act 222 of 2001, and the clock runs while cleanup is still going. Your homeowners insurance is a separate claim with its own deadline, and many standard policies exclude sewer backup unless you added a rider. Our guide on whether homeowners insurance covers basement flooding in Michigan explains the usual exclusions and what NFIP flood insurance does and doesn't cover.

Water Damage Restoration in Clinton Township MI, Start to Finish

Every flooded basement cleanup Clinton Township MI job follows the same order, because skipping a step costs money later.

1. Stop the source. We confirm whether the water came from a drain, a sump, a wall, a pipe or the river. If a sump pump quit, our sump pump failure cleanup process starts with getting the pit under control.
2. Document it. Photos, water lines and moisture readings start on arrival, which helps both a township claim and an insurance claim.
3. Extract. Submersible pumps and extractors pull standing water, usually in 2 to 6 hours for a typical basement.
4. Remove what can't be saved. Anything porous that touched Category 3 water comes out: carpet pad, drywall below the water line, boxes and insulation.
5. Clean and treat. Hard surfaces are cleaned and treated with antimicrobial before drying begins.
6. Dry and verify. LGR dehumidifiers and air movers run for 3 to 5 days, and we check readings with moisture meters and thermal imaging until materials reach dry standard under IICRC S500.

The EPA notes mold can start growing within 24 to 48 hours on wet materials, so the first two days decide most of the bill.

Clinton Township Basement Flood Cleanup Costs

These are typical ranges from our jobs, not quotes. The two things that move the number most are the water category and whether the basement is finished.

River flooding often lands in the Category 3 rows, because floodwater is never treated as clean. You get a written estimate before work begins, and we charge the same rate at night and on weekends. If a backup keeps returning, ask us about backwater check valve installation, and call the Building Department first to ask about permits.

Clinton Township Homes and Areas We Serve

Census survey data puts the median Clinton Township home at about 1980, with the oldest housing in the south end and newer construction concentrated in the north. The township had 45,288 housing units at the 2010 Census, two-thirds of them owner-occupied, and its housing mixes brick ranches, two-story colonials and split-levels with condos and townhouses. The age of the house changes the job. An unfinished basement mostly needs extraction and drying, while a finished lower level loses drywall, carpet and built-ins fast.

We cover all three Clinton Township ZIP codes, 48035, 48036 and 48038, along with the neighboring cities. See our pages for basement flood cleanup in Sterling Heights, which shares the Macomb Interceptor, plus Roseville and Warren homeowners. The Macomb County basement flooding guide covers the whole county. Each job is handled by the same IICRC-trained team behind our flooded basement cleanup in Dearborn, serving Michigan homeowners since 2019. For flooded basement cleanup Clinton Township MI service at any hour, call (866) 838-7745.