# Storm Drain Cleanout and Sediment Removal in Denver

A storm drain cleanout removes the accumulated silt, gravel, leaf mass, and root growth that has collected in a private storm line, basin, or dry well. On storm systems the blockage is almost always mineral rather than organic, and that changes both the tooling and the amount of material that has to come out of the ground.

- Silt, sand, gravel, and leaf mass removal.
- Catch basin and sump clearing.
- Root cutting at joints and fittings.
- Camera verification after the clean.
- Material removed rather than pushed downstream.

## What Actually Blocks a Storm Drain?

Grit and sand from paving, decomposed granite from landscape beds, roof grit from asphalt shingles, and the fine soil that washes off any bare ground during a storm. That material arrives suspended, travels while the water is moving fast, and settles the moment the flow slows down, which is why it accumulates in the flattest section of the run.

Leaf mass is the seasonal contributor and root growth is the structural one. Roots find storm joints for the same reason they find sanitary joints: there is water there. Once a root mass establishes at a joint, it acts as a strainer and collects everything the water was carrying.

- Silt, sand, and grit settled in flat sections.
- Decomposed granite washed in from landscape beds.
- Gravel and rock washed into open grates.
- Leaf and needle mass, especially in autumn.
- Root masses at joints and basin penetrations.
- Construction debris left in the line at installation.

## Why Cleaning Alone Sometimes Does Not Hold

Cleaning restores the pipe to its design capacity. If the design was sound and the sediment load was a one-off, that lasts. If the run has lost grade, cleaning resets a clock rather than solving anything, because the same flat section will collect the same material during the next few storms.

So the camera goes back in after the clean. If the run holds standing water once it is clear, that is the finding that matters and we will tell you the cleaning bought a season. The next conversation is re-grading or replacement of that section.

- The run holds standing water once cleared.
- A landscape bed keeps delivering fine material into an open grate.
- A crushed section is trapping sediment upstream of it.
- The discharge point is restricted and slowing everything above it.

## How a Storm Cleanout Runs

1. **Open and clear the basins** Basins and sumps are emptied first. Cleaning the pipe while the basin above it is full of grit just refills the pipe.
2. **Clear the run** Jetting, vacuum extraction, or cable work depending on the material and the pipe. Sediment is pulled back and removed, not driven to the outfall.
3. **Clear the discharge** The outfall or connection point is opened and confirmed clear. A clean pipe into a blocked outfall drains nothing.
4. **Camera and report** Post-clean camera run showing bare pipe, plus any grade problem the sediment was concealing.

## What Drives Storm Cleanout Cost

Volume of material and length of run set most of it. A storm system that has never been cleaned can hold a genuinely surprising quantity of sediment, and that material has to be extracted and disposed of rather than simply moved along.

Access is the other factor. Basins with removable grates make this straightforward. Buried junctions with no access point mean digging before cleaning.

Call (720) 935-6221 for a survey and clean.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I just flush my yard drains out with a hose?**

A hose will move loose leaf litter near the grate. It will not move settled silt, and on a partially blocked line it can push material further into the run where it is harder to reach. Where the blockage is mineral, it has to be extracted with equipment sized for it.

**How often should private storm drainage be cleaned?**

It depends entirely on what the system collects. A property with mature deciduous trees and gravel beds around the grates loads its system far faster than one with turf and evergreens. Rather than guessing, we scope it once and give you an interval based on how much material actually accumulated.

**Will jetting damage a corrugated drainage pipe?**

It can, and corrugated thin-wall drainage is common on residential storm systems. That is why we identify the material on camera first and match the method to it. Vacuum extraction is often the safer approach on flexible pipe.

**Who owns the storm drain on my property?**

In almost every case across the Denver metro, the storm drainage inside the property line is private. Area drains, trench drains, downspout lines, private catch basins, and the pipe carrying that water to the connection point are the owner's responsibility. The public system generally begins at the connection in the right-of-way.

**Are you the city stormwater department?**

No. Denver Sewer and Water is a private, family owned and operated company. We are not Denver Water or the City and County of Denver. We work on the privately owned storm drainage on your property. The public system in the street belongs to the municipality.

## Related Storm Drain Services

- [Storm Drains in Denver](https://www.denversewerandwater.com/storm-drains/denver-co) The full storm drainage lane: inspection, cleaning, repair, and replacement.
- [Storm Drain Scope and Video Inspection](https://www.denversewerandwater.com/storm-drains/storm-drain-scope-video-inspection) Camera survey of storm lines, basins, and outfalls before anyone quotes work.
- [Storm Drain Maintenance](https://www.denversewerandwater.com/storm-drains/storm-drain-maintenance) Scheduled cleaning and inspection that keeps a private storm system working.
- [Storm Drain Repair](https://www.denversewerandwater.com/storm-drains/storm-drain-repair) Fixing collapsed, offset, root-bound, and separated storm drain runs.

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Denver Sewer and Water is a privately owned, licensed and insured plumbing contractor. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Denver Water, the municipal water utility, or any government entity. To pay a municipal water bill or reach the public utility, visit denverwater.org.

Source: https://www.denversewerandwater.com/storm-drains/storm-drain-cleanout