What the city's own sewer study tells homeowners
Midwest City's 2025 Wastewater Collection System Master Plan maps about 292 miles of city sewer and 16 lift stations, flowing mostly by gravity along Crutcho, Soldier and Choctaw creeks. City staff told the engineers that large-diameter concrete and clay gravity mains were prone to failure, and the plan puts those lines first in the city's rehabilitation program, along with old mains made of what it calls undesirable materials.
The city owns the mains. The lateral from your house to the main is generally yours, and in neighborhoods built from the 1940s through the 1960s it is often clay or cast iron of the same vintage. Census Bureau survey data counts more than 11,000 Midwest City homes built before 1970. When those laterals fail, the cause is usually one of a few things: roots in the joints, a section that has settled into a belly, offset joints, or cast iron that has rusted through along the bottom.
Creeks, wet soil and infiltration
The study's flow meters near Soldier Creek showed signs of higher-than-average infiltration, which means groundwater finding its way into the pipes. The same thing happens on private lines. A cracked lateral in wet, low ground takes on water after heavy rain and lets roots and soil in, which speeds its decline. How much land here drains toward those creeks shows in the city's SCIP Trail, built on 77 acres of Soldier Creek floodway that could not be developed.
Repair or replace: how we decide
We start with a camera inspection and locate the problem from the surface, then lay out the options:
- Spot repair. One broken section or a single bad joint, dug out and replaced.
- Full lateral replacement. When the whole line is failing, new pipe from the house to the main.
- Trenchless. Pipe bursting or lining through small pits when the line runs under a driveway, mature trees or landscaping.
Sewer repairs in Midwest City are permitted through the city's Permits and Building Inspections Division, and we handle that paperwork. Our main sewer line repair and replacement page covers each method in more detail.
Signs your sewer line needs attention
- The lowest drain in the house backs up when the washer drains or a toilet flushes
- Gurgling toilets, or a sewer smell in the yard
- Soggy or unusually green patches along the sewer route
- Clogs that return soon after every cleaning
- Cracks or settling in the slab or driveway above the line
If you are buying an older home, a sewer camera inspection before closing is money well spent. Want the bigger picture on local water, sewers and permits? Visit our Midwest City plumber page.