Community Research and Service Center

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Valparaiso University

Valparaiso UniversityValpoScholarCommunity Research and Service Center Reportsand StudiesDepartment of Political Science and InternationalRelations2-2009Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in theCity of ValparaisoCommunity Research and Service CenterFollow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/crscPart of the Political Science CommonsThis Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Political Science and International Relations at ValpoScholar. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Community Research and Service Center Reports and Studies by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For moreinformation, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu.Recommended CitationCommunity Research and Service Center, "Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the City of Valparaiso" (2009). CommunityResearch and Service Center Reports and Studies. Paper 4.http://scholar.valpo.edu/crsc/4Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the City of Valparaiso   February 2009   Prepared by the   Community Research and Service Center Valparaiso University  Larry Baas, Director James Old, Associate Director   CRSC Research Associates  Alan Kus Keith Liput Evan Korshavn Chris Jackson Dan Klosowski    Educating a New Generation of Civic Leaders and Making a Difference in Northwest Indiana Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Backups in Valparaiso  Introduction   Mathew Kras, the City of Valparaiso’s Stormwater Engineer, asked the Community Research and Service Center to help the City of Valparaiso conduct and analyze a survey on problems related to the flooding that occurred in early September, 2008 in the City.  Working with the City and CRSC staff, as well as students in a Political Science research methods class, we developed a questionnaire, a complete copy of which is included in Appendix, designed to answer several questions.    1. At your current residence, have you had any problems with drainage or sewer backups?  2. What kind of problems have you had related to drainage or sewer backups?  3. How serious would you say the problems have been?  4. How often would you say the type of problems indicated above occur?         5. What have you done to try and solve the flooding problem.    6. If you have made changes, have they solved your problem?   7.  Have you had any other problems or are there any other comments you would like to make about drainage and sewer problems?   8.    In order to understand where the problems are, give us your name and address and phone number and how long you have lived in your current residence.      The surveys were distributed to approximately 12,000 households along with their city water bills.  (Some of these households are located outside of the city limits.) Respondents were allowed to complete a mail copy or were given the option of completing the survey online.  A link to the online survey also was placed on the City of Valparaiso webpage. A total of 1835 households responded with about 324 of those completing the survey online and the rest mailing back the completed questionnaire.  While we received a large number of responses, the response rate falls around 20% and that is something that should be considered in interpreting the results.  The data likely will provide a fairly accurate picture of problems because it is likely that those persons with problems responded and those without problems did not.  However, some problems may have been overlooked because renters who pay the water bill may be less aware of actual water problems that would be handled by the landlord.  Overall, given the large number of responses from all areas of the City, the data should provide a useful picture of the types and extent of problems related to the flooding.     All responses were coded and keyed into a dataset for analysis.  The addresses for each response were also put into a different file to be used for creating maps of areas with and without problems.  These maps are all available online for closer inspection at: http://www.valpo.edu/organization/copc/flooding.     Results  Respondents were asked, “At your current address, have you had any problems with drainage or sewer backups?” Responses are reported in Table 1. Of those surveyed, slightly under half (48.0%) of respondents claimed that they had had a problem with drainage or sewer backup. Over half of respondents (50.9%) claimed they had no problems with drainage or sewer flooding.  A map of these responses is presented in Map 1 on the following page.      Respondents were also asked about what kinds of flooding problems they had experienced.  Table 2 lists the number of respondents who reported sanitary sewer backup compared to the number of respondents who reported only other kinds of problems.  These results are also shown in Map 2.  A total of 277, or just over 30% of respondents who reported some sort of problem, reported a problem with sanitary sewer backups.     Response n PercentageYes 880 48.0%No 934 50.9%Missing 21 1.1%Total 1835 100.0%Problems with Drainage or Sewer BackupsTable 1Valparaiso Residentsn %Sanitary Sewer Backup 277 31.5%Other Problems Only 603 68.5%Total 880Other ProblemsSanitary Sewer Backup Versus Table 2   Map 1: Problems with Drainage and Sewage. Map 1 identifies the location of the residents who reported they had any kind of flooding problem. Red markers indicate reported problems, and green indicates that they did not have any problems. All maps included in this report are also available online at: http://www.valpo.edu/organization/copc/flooding.  The online versions allow for zooming in and magnification of any area.  Map 1 Problems with Drainage and Sewage  KEY:  Red tab  =       Problem reported  Green tab =      No problem reported  Map 2: Sanitary Sewer Backup versus Other Problems.  Map 2 plots locations where sanitary sewer backups were reported in red, and locations where only other kinds of problems were reported in blue.  Map #2 Reported cases of sanitary sewer backups and other flooding problems   KEY: Red  =       Reported Sanitary sewer backup   Blue  =       Reported only other kinds of flooding problems  Table 3 presents the data indicating what types of problems respondents reported having. Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 31.6% had sewer backup problems, 15.7% had problems with water entering through doors or windows, 56.5% had basement seepage problems, 18.9% had problems with their sump pump, and 25.2% had some other type of problem.  A map of these problems is presented in Map 3.      Type of Problem Yes % Sewer Backup 277 31.6%Water entering through Windows or Doors138 15.7%Seepage into Basement495 56.5%Sump Pump Failure 166 18.9%Other 221 25.2%Types of Drainage or Sewage ProblemsRespondents with Flooding ProblemsTable 3 Map 3: Types of Problems. Map 3 presents the location of various types of problems reported by Valparaiso residents. Red indicates only a sanitary sewer backup problem, orange indicates a combination of a sanitary sewer problem and some other problem(s), yellow indicates water entered the house through windows or doors only, blue indicates a problem of seepage through basement walls or floors only, black indicates a problem with sump pump failure only, green indicates some other type of flooding problem, and purple indicates multiple problems with flooding  not including problems with sanitary sewer backup.    Map 3  Types of Problems   KEY: Red  =       Sanitary sewer backup only  Orange =       Sanitary sewer and other problem(s)  Yellow =       Water entering house through windows or doors only  Blue  =       Seepage through basement walls or floors only  Black  =       Sump pump failure only  Green  =       Other problem only  Purple  =       Multiple problems (not including Sanitary Sewer backup) Map 4–8 breaks down the data in Table 3 and Map 3 by the types of problems that residents reported.  Each map presents reports of a particular type of flooding problem.  Map 4 demonstrates only reports of sanitary sewer backup into home.  Map 4 Reported Cases of Sewer Backup Problems in the City of Valparaiso  Map 5 plots reported cases of water entering homes through doors and windows.  Map #5 Reported cases of water entering homes through windows or doors Map 6 plots reported cases of water seepage through basement walls and floors.  Map #6 Reported cases of seepage through basement walls or floors Map 7 plots reported cases of sump pump failure in the city.  Map #7 Reported cases of sump pump failure Map 8 plots all other reported flooding problems reported by residents.  Map #8 Other reported cases of flooding problems in the City of Valparaiso  Table 9 demonstrates how serious residents considered their flooding problems to be. Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 22.5% reported very serious problems, 25.3% reported serious problems, 29.9% reported somewhat serious problems, and 22.3% reported only minor problems. These responses are demonstrated in Map 9.    Table 10 presents the reported frequency of flooding problems experienced by Valparaiso residents. Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 37.3% experienced problems several times per year, 24.6% experienced problems on a yearly basis, 18.8% experienced problems every couple of years, and 19.4% experienced problems only every 5-10 years.  The seriousness of the problems is presented in Map 10.       Response n PercentageVery 193 22.5%Serious 217 25.3%Somewhat 256 29.9%Minor 191 22.3%Total 857 100.0%Flooding ProblemsSeriousness of Valparaiso Residents'Table 9Response n PercentageSeveral per year 312 37.3%Yearly 206 24.6%Couple years 157 18.8%5-10 years 162 19.4%Total 837 100.0%Frequency of the Problems  Valparaiso ResidentsTable 10Map 9: The Seriousness of Flooding. Map 9 presents the data on the location of the most serious problems. Red indicates very serious problems, orange indicates serious problems, yellow indicates somewhat serious problems, and green indicates only minor problems.  Map 9 Reported Seriousness of Flooding   KEY: Red  =       Very Serious  Orange =       Serious  Yellow =       Somewhat serious  Green  =       Minor Map 10: The Frequency of Flooding. Map 10 presents information on the frequency of reported flooding problems. Red indicates several times per year, orange indicates at least once per year, yellow once every couple of years, and green once every 5-10 years at most.  Map 10  Frequency of Flooding KEY: Red  =       Several times a year  Orange =       At least once a year  Yellow =       Once every couple of years  Green  =       Once every 5 to 10 years at most          Table 11 focuses on data only for residents who reported that they had experienced sanitary sewer backups into their homes. Most respondents (35.9%) claimed that they had very serious problems, 26.0% said they had a serious problem, 23.8% said their problem was somewhat serious, 13.9% said their problem was minor. A map of the seriousness of the sewer backup problems is presented in Map 11.     Response N %Very Serious 98 35.9Serious 71 26Somewhat Serious 65 23.8Minor 38 13.9No Response 1 0.40%Seriousness of Sewer BackupValparaiso ResidentsTable 11Map 11: Seriousness of Sewer Backups. Map 11 presents data on the locations of sewer backup problems by how serious they were reported to be. Red indicates very serious sewer backup problems, orange serious problems, yellow somewhat serious problems, and green indicates only minor sewer backup problems.   Map 11  Seriousness of Sewer Backups  KEY: Red  =       Very serious  Orange =       Serious  Yellow =       Somewhat serious  Green  =       MinorTable 12 shows the frequency of sewer backup problems. Respondents were asked about the frequency of their sewer problems as indicated in Table 12: 28.5% said they had several backup problems per year, 24.5% said once a year, 22.7% said that backups happened every couple of years, and 20.2% said they experienced sewer backup problems only every 5–10 years.  The frequency of sewer backup problems is presented in Map 11.   Response n PercentageSeveral per year 79 28.5%Yearly 68 24.5%Couple years 63 22.7%5-10 years 56 20.2%Missing 11 4.0%Total 277 100.0%Frequency of the Sewer BackupValparaiso ResidentsTable 12 Map 13: Frequency of Sanitary Sewer Backup Problems.  Map 13 presents information on the frequency of reported sewer backup problems. Red indicates several times per year, orange indicates at least once per year, yellow once every couple of years, and green once every 5-10 years at most.  Map 13 Frequency of Sanitary Sewer Backup Problems KEY: Red  =       Several times a year  Orange =       At least once a year  Yellow =       Once every couple of years  Green  =       Once every 5 to 10 years at most      Table 14 presents the data for the methods that residents have tried to solve their various water and flooding problems. Of those surveyed, 4.9% had installed a back flow preventer or check valve, 2.0% had installed a stand pipe, 5.5% had installed a drain plug, 20.1% had installed a sump pump, 31.2% had reconfigured their downspouts, 9.0% had reconfigured their sump pump’s discharge, 17.2% had regraded their yard, 26.1% had done something different, and 10.0% had done nothing.       Method Used YesPercentage responding "Yes"nInstalled a back flow preventer or check valve 604.9% 1230Installed stand pipe over floor drain 242.0% 1230Installed drain plug 67 5.5% 1228Installed a sump pump 248 20.1% 1231Reconfigured downspouts 383 31.2% 1229Reconfigured sump pump discharge 1109.0% 1229Regraded yard 211 17.2% 1230Other 321 26.1% 1229Nothing 123 10.0% 1230Methods tried to solve flooding problems Table 14Valparaiso ResidentsType of Problem Yes Percentage responding "Ye "nWater entering through windows or do rs138 15.7% 877Sewer Backup 277 31.6% 876Seepage into Basement 495 56.5% 876Sump Pump Failure 166 18.9% 877Other 221 25.2% 876Table 3Types of Drainage or Sewage ProblemsValparaiso Residents with Flooding Problems 

Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the City of Valparaiso

ValpoScholar

Valparaiso University
ValpoScholar
Community Research and Service Center Reports
and Studies
Department of Political Science and International
Relations
2-2009
Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the
City of Valparaiso
Community Research and Service Center
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/crsc
Part of the Political Science Commons
This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Political Science and International Relations at ValpoScholar. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Community Research and Service Center Reports and Studies by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more
information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu.
Recommended Citation
Community Research and Service Center, "Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the City of Valparaiso" (2009). Community
Research and Service Center Reports and Studies. Paper 4.
http://scholar.valpo.edu/crsc/4
Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems 
in the City of Valparaiso 
 
 
February 2009 
 
 
Prepared by the  
 
Community Research and Service Center 
Valparaiso University 
 
Larry Baas, Director 
James Old, Associate Director 
 
 
CRSC Research Associates  
Alan Kus 
Keith Liput 
Evan Korshavn 
Chris Jackson 
Dan Klosowski 
 
 
 
Educating a New Generation of Civic 
Leaders and Making a Difference in 
Northwest Indiana 
Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Backups in Valparaiso 
 
Introduction 
 
 Mathew Kras, the City of Valparaiso’s Stormwater Engineer, asked the Community 
Research and Service Center to help the City of Valparaiso conduct and analyze a survey on 
problems related to the flooding that occurred in early September, 2008 in the City.  Working 
with the City and CRSC staff, as well as students in a Political Science research methods class, 
we developed a questionnaire, a complete copy of which is included in Appendix, designed to 
answer several questions.   
 
1. At your current residence, have you had any problems with drainage or sewer 
backups? 
 
2. What kind of problems have you had related to drainage or sewer backups? 
 
3. How serious would you say the problems have been? 
 
4. How often would you say the type of problems indicated above occur?        
 
5. What have you done to try and solve the flooding problem.  
  
6. If you have made changes, have they solved your problem? 
  
7.  Have you had any other problems or are there any other comments you would like to 
make about drainage and sewer problems?  
 
8.    In order to understand where the problems are, give us your name and address and 
phone number and how long you have lived in your current residence.   
 
 
 The surveys were distributed to approximately 12,000 households along with their city 
water bills.  (Some of these households are located outside of the city limits.) Respondents were 
allowed to complete a mail copy or were given the option of completing the survey online.  A 
link to the online survey also was placed on the City of Valparaiso webpage. A total of 1835 
households responded with about 324 of those completing the survey online and the rest mailing 
back the completed questionnaire.  While we received a large number of responses, the response 
rate falls around 20% and that is something that should be considered in interpreting the results.  
The data likely will provide a fairly accurate picture of problems because it is likely that those 
persons with problems responded and those without problems did not.  However, some problems 
may have been overlooked because renters who pay the water bill may be less aware of actual 
water problems that would be handled by the landlord.  Overall, given the large number of 
responses from all areas of the City, the data should provide a useful picture of the types and 
extent of problems related to the flooding.   
 
 All responses were coded and keyed into a dataset for analysis.  The addresses for each 
response were also put into a different file to be used for creating maps of areas with and without 
problems.  These maps are all available online for closer inspection at: 
http://www.valpo.edu/organization/copc/flooding. 
 
  
 
Results 
 
Respondents were asked, “At your current address, have you had any problems 
with drainage or sewer backups?” Responses are reported in Table 1. Of those surveyed, 
slightly under half (48.0%) of respondents claimed that they had had a problem with 
drainage or sewer backup. Over half of respondents (50.9%) claimed they had no 
problems with drainage or sewer flooding.  A map of these responses is presented in Map 
1 on the following page. 
 
 
 
 
 
Respondents were also asked about what kinds of flooding problems they had 
experienced.  Table 2 lists the number of respondents who reported sanitary sewer 
backup compared to the number of respondents who reported only other kinds of 
problems.  These results are also shown in Map 2.  A total of 277, or just over 30% of 
respondents who reported some sort of problem, reported a problem with sanitary sewer 
backups. 
 
 
 
 
Response n Percentage
Yes 880 48.0%
No 934 50.9%
Missing 21 1.1%
Total 1835 100.0%
Problems with Drainage or Sewer Backups
Table 1
Valparaiso Residents
n %
Sanitary Sewer Backup 277 31.5%
Other Problems Only 603 68.5%
Total 880
Other Problems
Sanitary Sewer Backup Versus 
Table 2
  
 
Map 1: Problems with Drainage and Sewage. Map 1 identifies the location of 
the residents who reported they had any kind of flooding problem. Red markers indicate 
reported problems, and green indicates that they did not have any problems. All maps 
included in this report are also available online at: 
http://www.valpo.edu/organization/copc/flooding.  The online versions allow for 
zooming in and magnification of any area. 
 
Map 1 Problems with Drainage and Sewage 
 
KEY:  Red tab  =       Problem reported 
 Green tab =      No problem reported 
 Map 2: Sanitary Sewer Backup versus Other Problems.  Map 2 plots locations 
where sanitary sewer backups were reported in red, and locations where only other kinds 
of problems were reported in blue. 
 
Map #2 
Reported cases of sanitary sewer backups and other flooding problems 
 
 
KEY: Red  =       Reported Sanitary sewer backup  
 Blue  =       Reported only other kinds of flooding problems 
 
Table 3 presents the data indicating what types of problems respondents reported having. 
Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 31.6% had sewer 
backup problems, 15.7% had problems with water entering through doors or windows, 
56.5% had basement seepage problems, 18.9% had problems with their sump pump, and 
25.2% had some other type of problem.  A map of these problems is presented in Map 3.   
 
 
 
Type of Problem Yes % 
Sewer Backup 277 31.6%
Water entering through 
Windows or Doors
138 15.7%
Seepage into Basement
495 56.5%
Sump Pump Failure 166 18.9%
Other 221 25.2%
Types of Drainage or Sewage Problems
Respondents with Flooding Problems
Table 3
 Map 3: Types of Problems. Map 3 presents the location of various types of 
problems reported by Valparaiso residents. Red indicates only a sanitary sewer backup 
problem, orange indicates a combination of a sanitary sewer problem and some other 
problem(s), yellow indicates water entered the house through windows or doors only, 
blue indicates a problem of seepage through basement walls or floors only, black 
indicates a problem with sump pump failure only, green indicates some other type of 
flooding problem, and purple indicates multiple problems with flooding  not including 
problems with sanitary sewer backup. 
 
 
 
Map 3 
 Types of Problems  
 
KEY: Red  =       Sanitary sewer backup only 
 Orange =       Sanitary sewer and other problem(s) 
 Yellow =       Water entering house through windows or doors only 
 Blue  =       Seepage through basement walls or floors only 
 Black  =       Sump pump failure only 
 Green  =       Other problem only 
 Purple  =       Multiple problems (not including Sanitary Sewer backup) 
Map 4–8 breaks down the data in Table 3 and Map 3 by the types of problems that 
residents reported.  Each map presents reports of a particular type of flooding problem.  
Map 4 demonstrates only reports of sanitary sewer backup into home. 
 
Map 4 
Reported Cases of Sewer Backup Problems in the City of Valparaiso 
 
Map 5 plots reported cases of water entering homes through doors and windows. 
 
Map #5 
Reported cases of water entering homes through windows or doors 
Map 6 plots reported cases of water seepage through basement walls and floors. 
 
Map #6 
Reported cases of seepage through basement walls or floors 
Map 7 plots reported cases of sump pump failure in the city. 
 
Map #7 
Reported cases of sump pump failure 
Map 8 plots all other reported flooding problems reported by residents. 
 
Map #8 
Other reported cases of flooding problems in the City of Valparaiso 
 
Table 9 demonstrates how serious residents considered their flooding problems to 
be. Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 22.5% reported 
very serious problems, 25.3% reported serious problems, 29.9% reported somewhat 
serious problems, and 22.3% reported only minor problems. These responses are 
demonstrated in Map 9. 
 
 
 
Table 10 presents the reported frequency of flooding problems experienced by 
Valparaiso residents. Considering only those persons who indicated they had problems, 
37.3% experienced problems several times per year, 24.6% experienced problems on a 
yearly basis, 18.8% experienced problems every couple of years, and 19.4% experienced 
problems only every 5-10 years.  The seriousness of the problems is presented in Map 10. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Response n Percentage
Very 193 22.5%
Serious 217 25.3%
Somewhat 256 29.9%
Minor 191 22.3%
Total 857 100.0%
Flooding Problems
Seriousness of Valparaiso Residents'
Table 9
Response n Percentage
Several per year 312 37.3%
Yearly 206 24.6%
Couple years 157 18.8%
5-10 years 162 19.4%
Total 837 100.0%
Frequency of the Problems  
Valparaiso Residents
Table 10
Map 9: The Seriousness of Flooding. Map 9 presents the data on the location of 
the most serious problems. Red indicates very serious problems, orange indicates serious 
problems, yellow indicates somewhat serious problems, and green indicates only minor 
problems. 
 
Map 9 
Reported Seriousness of Flooding 
 
 
KEY: Red  =       Very Serious 
 Orange =       Serious 
 Yellow =       Somewhat serious 
 Green  =       Minor 
Map 10: The Frequency of Flooding. Map 10 presents information on the 
frequency of reported flooding problems. Red indicates several times per year, orange 
indicates at least once per year, yellow once every couple of years, and green once every 
5-10 years at most.  
Map 10  
Frequency of Flooding 
KEY: Red  =       Several times a year 
 Orange =       At least once a year 
 Yellow =       Once every couple of years 
 Green  =       Once every 5 to 10 years at most 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 11 focuses on data only for residents who reported that they had 
experienced sanitary sewer backups into their homes. Most respondents (35.9%) 
claimed that they had very serious problems, 26.0% said they had a serious problem, 
23.8% said their problem was somewhat serious, 13.9% said their problem was minor. A 
map of the seriousness of the sewer backup problems is presented in Map 11. 
 
 
 
 
Response N %
Very Serious 98 35.9
Serious 71 26
Somewhat Serious 65 23.8
Minor 38 13.9
No Response 1 0.40%
Seriousness of Sewer Backup
Valparaiso Residents
Table 11
Map 11: Seriousness of Sewer Backups. Map 11 presents data on the locations 
of sewer backup problems by how serious they were reported to be. Red indicates very 
serious sewer backup problems, orange serious problems, yellow somewhat serious 
problems, and green indicates only minor sewer backup problems.  
 
Map 11 
 Seriousness of Sewer Backups 
 
KEY: Red  =       Very serious 
 Orange =       Serious 
 Yellow =       Somewhat serious 
 Green  =       Minor
Table 12 shows the frequency of sewer backup problems. Respondents were 
asked about the frequency of their sewer problems as indicated in Table 12: 28.5% said 
they had several backup problems per year, 24.5% said once a year, 22.7% said that 
backups happened every couple of years, and 20.2% said they experienced sewer backup 
problems only every 5–10 years.  The frequency of sewer backup problems is presented 
in Map 11. 
 
 
Response n Percentage
Several per year 79 28.5%
Yearly 68 24.5%
Couple years 63 22.7%
5-10 years 56 20.2%
Missing 11 4.0%
Total 277 100.0%
Frequency of the Sewer Backup
Valparaiso Residents
Table 12
 
Map 13: Frequency of Sanitary Sewer Backup Problems.  Map 13 presents 
information on the frequency of reported sewer backup problems. Red indicates several 
times per year, orange indicates at least once per year, yellow once every couple of years, 
and green once every 5-10 years at most. 
 
Map 13 
Frequency of Sanitary Sewer Backup Problems 
KEY: Red  =       Several times a year 
 Orange =       At least once a year 
 Yellow =       Once every couple of years 
 Green  =       Once every 5 to 10 years at most 
 
 
 
 
 Table 14 presents the data for the methods that residents have tried to solve their 
various water and flooding problems. Of those surveyed, 4.9% had installed a back flow 
preventer or check valve, 2.0% had installed a stand pipe, 5.5% had installed a drain plug, 
20.1% had installed a sump pump, 31.2% had reconfigured their downspouts, 9.0% had 
reconfigured their sump pump’s discharge, 17.2% had regraded their yard, 26.1% had 
done something different, and 10.0% had done nothing.  
 
 
 
 
 
Method Used Yes
Percentage 
responding 
"Yes"
n
Installed a back flow 
preventer or check valve 60
4.9% 1230
Installed stand pipe over floor 
drain 24
2.0% 1230
Installed drain plug 67 5.5% 1228
Installed a sump pump 248 20.1% 1231
Reconfigured downspouts 383 31.2% 1229
Reconfigured sump pump 
discharge 110
9.0% 1229
Regraded yard 211 17.2% 1230
Other 321 26.1% 1229
Nothing 123 10.0% 1230
Methods tried to solve flooding problems 
Table 14
Valparaiso Residents
Type of Problem Yes 
Percentage 
responding 
"Ye "
n
Water entering through 
windows or do rs
138 15.7% 877
Sewer Backup 277 31.6% 876
Seepage into Basement 495 56.5% 876
Sump Pump Failure 166 18.9% 877
Other 221 25.2% 876
Table 3
Types of Drainage or Sewage Problems
Valparaiso Residents with Flooding Problems
 


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Flooding, Drainage, and Sewer Problems in the City of Valparaiso

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