In the last month, I completed over 50 estimates on houses to replace their eavestroughs. More than half had their downpipes running into a pipe at the foundation of their homes that is directly connected to the city storm sewers. This system worked 30 to 50 years ago. However, with the housing boom and all the new subdivisions cropping up all over the place, there are now too many homes to have this water routed into storm sewers as seen in the picture below:

The city of Toronto and the City of Mississauga have already begun the process of all houses disconnecting their downpipes from the city storm sewers and for good reason! The storm sewers can not handle all the water directly routed into them from the roofs of houses AND do their job of getting water off city streets when a rain storm or massive snow melt off occurs. This has resulted in parts of these cities flooding and sewer backups into homes.

Here is information from both cities and their downpipe disconnect programs:

Click on this link for the city of Toronto information: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=9931c0841486f310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=d490ba32db7ce310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

The following is from the city of Mississauga:

I rarely work in Toronto and often in Mississauga. Most of my work is done in the Halton area and Hamilton. To my knowledge, neither of these two cities have mandated that home owners disconnect downpipes but both have recommended it.

Here is Hamilton’s information:
http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/WaterAndWasteWaterDev/Downspout+Disconnection.htm

That’s why whenever I meet with homeowners to provide an estimate, I always recommend that the downpipes be disconnected when we do the work. Especially since there is usually a better location for the downpipe to spill the water onto the ground. Although Hamilton and Halton have not yet mandated downspout disconnection, it is only a matter of time before they do so. The best option for you is to disconnect NOW and not have to worry later!Here is a fantastic article entitled “The Storm over Disconnecting your Downspout by Dianne Saxe an Environmental Law Specialist. It is worth your time to read it! Just click on the following link:
http://beaconnews.ca/calgary/2011/12/the-storm-over-disconnecting-your-downspout/

For an eavestrough job done right every time, contact The Eavestrough Company at  www.thetheeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.