Basement Flooding in Saguenay: The Déluge of 1996, the Rivers Since, and the Sewers Under the Old Boroughs

Rivers, sewers and the melt

River flooding announces itself: the City and the province issue warnings, the Chicoutimi rises below the dams, the Ha! Ha! rises through La Baie, and the Saguenay fjord’s tides add to it at the mouth. Sewer backup arrives at the floor drain, a basement toilet or the laundry standpipe during or just after heavy rain and smells like sewage; the old boroughs on the oldest sewers are most exposed. Groundwater arrives clear at the wall-floor joint and through cracks in the April melt, when three metres of snow leave in a few weeks and every French drain in the city is full.

Photograph where the water first appeared and when. A river warning, a storm and a smell, or a melt and clear water each point to a different fix.

What the fixes do, and what Quebec requires

A backwater valve is a one-way flap on the drain that closes when the sewer surcharges so sewage cannot flow back into the house; Quebec’s plumbing code has required them on the below-grade fixtures of most homes for years, and many older Saguenay houses have none or have one seized open. A sump pump with a pit collects groundwater from the French drain and pumps it outside; a battery backup keeps it running through the outages that come with the storms, and a discharge line that will not freeze in a late cold snap matters here more than in the south. Quebec insurers have held that a missing or unmaintained backwater valve can reduce a claim.

The City of Saguenay requires a permit for the work and has offered protective plumbing programs at times; check the City’s current page before signing a quote.

• City of Saguenay permit and any current program checked
• RBQ-licensed plumbing contractor
• Camera inspection recording and locate
• Backwater valves present and tested on every below-grade fixture
• Sump pump tested in March, backup and a frost-proof discharge

Who owns which pipe, and the flood plain

The City of Saguenay owns the sanitary and storm sewers beyond your property line and the water supply; the lateral on your property is yours, subject to the City’s by-laws. A camera inspection with a locate tells you which side a break or blockage is on. Keep the recording; an insurer will want it, and sewer backup and overland water are separate endorsements on a Quebec home policy. The flood-plain rules adopted after 1996, and tightened again by the province after 2017 and 2019, restrict rebuilding and major renovation in the zones along the rivers; check the City’s zoning before planning basement work near them.

Before the melt

March is the month. Lift the sump float and listen for the pump; test the battery backup; dig out the discharge line and the window wells from the snowbanks; and check that the gutters are not frozen into the snow at the foundation. Older houses in Chicoutimi’s and Jonquière’s cores with stone or block foundations may need excavation, a membrane and a new French drain rather than a sump alone; get a waterproofer and a plumber to look together, and check the RBQ register for both.