Who cleans the storm drain in my street?

The city does. Torrance's Wastewater Division maintains the city's storm drain system, and during storms its crews maintain catch basins and respond to flooding complaints. The yard inlets, downspout lines and French drains on your own lot are a job for a plumber or drainage contractor you hire.

Can a clogged French drain be cleaned, or does it need replacing?

Cleaning comes first. HomeGuide puts French drain cleaning at $80 to $500 and up, done with an electric snake and a water flush, and Angi says a maintained French drain can last 30 to 40 years. Replacement makes sense when a camera or a dig shows crushed pipe or a trench packed solid with silt.

Can I connect my yard drain to the sewer cleanout?

No. Triple-I warns that connecting French drains, sump pumps and other flood control systems to the sanitary sewer is illegal, and that the debris and silt they carry will clog the sewer line. HomeGuide lists the usual outlets instead: daylight away from the house, a dry well, a sump basin or a storm drain.

Storm Drain Cleaning in Torrance, CA

Storm, French or drain tile cleaning: cost guides list $200 to $600
French drain alone: $80 to $500 and up, depending on how bad the clog is
Time: Angi rates cleaning a French drain at about 3 hours as a homeowner project
How often: HomeGuide suggests cleaning storm and French drains once or twice a year

Torrance Hydro Jet sends your photos and address to a plumber who does yard drains, so a clogged patio inlet, downspout line, French drain or driveway trench drain reaches someone set up for rainwater lines. A picture of the grate and one of the outlet at the curb help the plumber size up the job before the visit.

Storm Drain Cleaning Around a Torrance Property

Square green area drain grate lifted out of a stamped concrete patio, a thin jetting hose fed into the opening and mud and leaves around the rim

Yard and Patio Area Drains

Area drains are the small grated inlets in patios, lawns and side yards, tied together with plastic pipe that runs to the curb or another outlet. Soil, mulch, leaves and roots wash in a little at a time and pack into a plug. HomeGuide describes the usual professional method as snaking the line, then flushing out what's left with water. On a long run with several inlets, a jetter does both in one pass.

Metal downspout on a stucco house connected into a black corrugated pipe at ground level, the joint pulled apart and packed with leaves and roof grit

Downspout and Underground Gutter Lines

Buried downspout lines take roof water away from the foundation and catch everything the gutters let through: leaves, roof grit, the odd nest. If the downspout spills at the ground joint while the gutters above are clean, the clog is underground. HomeGuide notes that some gutter companies include drain clearing with gutter and downspout cleaning, so the gutter crew may be the cheaper call for a short run. Long or root-filled lines are plumber work.

Gravel trench along the side of a stucco house with a section of perforated pipe dug out, its slots clogged with fine silt

French Drains

A French drain is perforated pipe in a gravel trench that collects water from the soil and carries it away. HomeGuide lists poor installation, root intrusion and debris buildup as the usual reasons one clogs, and says soil with iron ochre calls for more frequent cleaning. Angi gives a well-kept French drain 30 to 40 years with yearly cleaning. Because the pipe is slotted, ask how the plumber will set the jetter's pressure before the nozzle goes in.

Long narrow channel drain with a slotted metal grate across the foot of a sloped concrete driveway in front of a garage, one grate section lifted and silt in the channel

Catch Basins and Driveway Trench Drains

A catch basin is a box under a grate with a low sump that holds sediment back from the outlet pipe. A trench drain is a long slotted channel across a driveway or garage apron. Both fill with sand and grit, so the sump or channel gets scooped or vacuumed out first. The outlet line is jetted after that, or the jetter just pushes sand farther down the pipe.

Grated catch basin in an asphalt parking lot behind a strip center, the grate set aside and a jetting hose fed into the outlet pipe

Commercial Parking Lot Drains

Parking lot basins collect oily runoff, trash and sediment from every car on the lot. Torrance says its storm drains flow straight to the Pacific Ocean, and the city publishes stormwater brochures for mobile businesses. Ask the plumber how they'll catch debris and wash water before a lot drain gets jetted toward the street.

Gloved hands feeding a high-pressure jetting hose with a steel nozzle into a sewer cleanout in a concrete walkway

Why Torrance homeowners and businesses call Torrance Hydro Jet

One independent plumber gets your request, never a call list
The referral itself costs you nothing
Ask for the camera video and a written price before repairs
Check the plumber's C-36 license on CSLB in a minute

Storm Drain Cleaning Quote Factors

Length and inlets
HomeGuide ties the $200 to $600 range to where the clog is and how long the drain runs. Each extra inlet is another access point to clear.
Roots or broken pipe
The same guide counts needed pipe repair as a price factor. Crushed corrugated pipe under a lawn means digging.
Sediment in the basin
Scooping a full sump before the line can be jetted adds time.
Timing
Once or twice a year is the guide figure, and a cleaning before the first heavy rain finds a clog while there's still time to fix it.

See floor drain cleaning for the garage and laundry drains that run to the sewer.