Backwater Valve Grant Program

A backwater valve prevents sewage from entering your home if the sewer line on your street is full.

A backwater valve remains open when wastewater is flowing out of a home but will close automatically if the flow reverses. This helps to prevent backups.

Municipal bylaws require homes since 2000 to have backwater valves installed. If your home is older than that, you may need to install one. 

The grants will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis starting on March 1, 2021.

Homes that have had backwater valves installed since May 1, 2020 are eligible. Homes that had backwater valves installed prior to this date are ineligible. 

Yes - they need regular maintenance in order to function properly. Additionally, when they're engaged they stop flow in both directions.

Contact your valve manufacturer for more information. 

Call Pulse at 780-743-7000 and ask to be connected with Safety Codes. 

It’s installed on your sanitary service line, which connects your toilets, sinks, showers and other appliances to the Municipality’s sanitary sewer system. This is typically under the basement in the home. In some instances, they can be installed on the sanitary service line outside of the home. 

It could take a day or longer, depending on a variety of factors including contractor availability. The procedure can be invasive depending on where the valve needs to be installed. 

No activation is needed – backflow valves function automatically.

Talk with your insurance broker. Once the valve is inspected, an inspection form is issued saying that the work was done to code; this report can be provided to insurers if they ask to see proof of the installation. 

No, grant is only available for residential properties.

One grant for each property owned by the resident.

Once all documentation is submitted to the Municipality, the grant funds should be received by the applicant within 6-8 weeks.

No - only homes with plumbing below street level are eligible. In the case of mobile homes on wood or steel piles, there is no advantage to having a backwater valve installed. However, mobile homes on foundations with plumbing in the basement are eligible. 

Because of the way the sanitary system is built in Grayling Terrace, basements and the sanitary system are already effectively protected to the 1-in-200-year level from a river flooding event.

This can seem confusing at a glance because there are homes in the Lower Townsite that sit at a higher elevation. However, the sanitary system downtown is built in such a way that homes aren’t protected to the same level, even if they sit on higher ground.