Sewer backup and drains in Ahuntsic-Cartierville

A large part of Ahuntsic-Cartierville was built between 1945 and 1965, on flat, clay-heavy soil that drains poorly, just a few streets from the Rivière des Prairies. The residential streets north of Henri-Bourassa Boulevard are lined with silver maples planted in the 1950s and 1960s, mature now — exactly the kind of root that invites itself into an old clay drain.

The sewer network here was separated in stages over the decades, but several areas near Gouin Boulevard remain on a combined system, where a heavy rain can still push water back up through the basement drain. Camera inspection, backwater valves and preventive cleaning are the most common requests from this area.