Wastewater pumping and sewers in Zolitūde - apartment estates and public buildings

Zolitūde: where the city network ends and the building's responsibility begins

Zolitūde is an apartment-block neighbourhood in western Pārdaugava (Riga's left bank), near the airport and the railway. It is made up of Soviet-era housing estates, new residential developments, and retail and public buildings. All of them discharge their wastewater into the network of Rīgas ūdens (Riga's water utility).

The city network ends at the inspection chamber 1.5–2 m from the street's red line (the planning boundary of the street) or at the plot boundary. Everything before it (stacks, basement collector pipes, yard pipes and manholes, pumps and grease traps) is the responsibility of the building's owners and its manager. So if a manhole in the yard overflows, the first question is which side of the inspection chamber the problem is on.

For the building manager: the basement and yard manholes

In a large apartment building, the basement collector pipe gathers water from dozens of flats. If it clogs, sewage first comes out in the basement or in the lowest yard manhole. The blockage in the pipe is cleared by a plumber or a drain cleaning service, but we help with what needs doing before and after.

• Pumping a flooded basement into the tanker so that the plumber can reach the pipes: basement pumping.
• Emptying an overflowing manhole so that sewage does not spill into the yard.
• Replacing a damaged or collapsed yard manhole with a plastic inspection chamber: inspection chamber installation.
• Relaying sections of pipe in the yard if a pipe has shifted or cracked, from €25/m.

Pumping up to 4 m³ costs from €75, up to 10 m³ from €110. In Riga, we do not add a per-kilometre charge.

A smell in the stairwell or basement: what to check first

A sewage smell in an apartment building does not always mean a blockage. Often the cause is a dried-out floor drain trap in the basement or in a laundry room where water is rarely used, or an inspection hatch on the stack that has been left open.

• Pour a bucket of water into each floor drain and rarely used sink so that the water seal in the traps is restored.
• Check that the inspection hatches and the yard manhole covers are closed.
• If the smell persists and the water level in the yard manhole is higher than usual, there is most likely a blockage in the building's network; then you need drain cleaning and, if the manhole is overflowing, pumping.

Shops, cafés and kitchens in public buildings

Riga's rules prohibit discharging wastewater containing fats and food waste into the mains sewer. For kitchens in retail buildings, canteens and other kitchens in public buildings, this means a grease trap that is cleaned regularly. If the separator is full, grease gets into the building's collector pipe and hardens exactly where blockages then occur.

Grease trap cleaning costs from €90: we pump out the contents, clean the walls and partitions and refill the separator with water. For institutions and chains with several locations, we agree a schedule and documents; see pumping services for businesses.

New developments: pump stations and rainwater

In new buildings with a basement level or underground spaces, part of the wastewater has to be lifted to the street network with a sewage pump station (from €1,650). The station needs regular maintenance: pumping out and flushing the tank, and checking the floats and the non-return valve. If the pump stops, see pump repair.

In Riga, rainwater from roofs and paved areas and groundwater from drainage may not be discharged into the domestic sewer without the approval of SIA Rīgas ūdens. They need a separate system: rainwater drainage installation and drainage well cleaning.

If your house on the edge of the neighbourhood is not yet connected

Private houses are not typical of Zolitūde, but nearby neighbourhoods such as Imanta and Šampēteris have more of them. If your house has a septic tank or holding tank, in Riga it must be registered with the Riga Housing and Environment Department, and the septic tank must be pumped out at least once a year. If there is a network in the street, Riga grants €1,000–€2,000 for connecting a residential house, depending on the length of the connection pipe; see connecting to the mains sewer.

Access: courtyards and the railway

In the courtyards of the estates, many cars tend to be parked in the evenings and at weekends, and the vacuum tanker needs space by the manhole or the basement entrance. It is worth the building manager putting up a notice for residents in advance or telling us which side to approach from. The railway, Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve and the roads towards the airport connect the neighbourhood well, but for some buildings the railway line determines which side you can drive in from.

Nearby neighbourhoods: Imanta, Šampēteris, Beberbeķi and Zasulauks. All places: where we work.