Plumbing in South Lebanon Township, PA

Two booms, seventy years apart

South Lebanon Township sits along the south side of Lebanon city, all of it in ZIP 17042. More houses went up here in the 1950s than in any other decade, around villages like Avon, Hebron, Iona and Prescott. Then the 2000s brought a second wave, with developments such as Fox Ridge, Valley Chase, the Meadows at Southfield and Falcon Crest Estates.

Those two waves are now at opposite ends of their plumbing lives, and they call for different work.

The 1950s houses

A house from the 1950s has had seventy years for its original materials to age. Galvanized steel supply rusts inward, so pressure fades so slowly that people stop noticing until two faucets run at once. Cast iron drains roughen and catch. And the sewer lateral running out under the yard to the street is often the one that went in with the house.

When those houses back up, the useful first step is a camera rather than a cable, because a lateral of that age that blocks twice usually has something structural going on. Sewer line repair covers what the footage shows.

The 2000s houses

In the newer subdivisions the pipe is usually fine. What wears out at twenty years is everything hanging off it: the original water heater if it has not already gone, braided supply hoses, fill valves, cartridges and the shutoffs nobody has turned since closing. These are smaller jobs, and catching a water heater before it leaks onto a finished basement floor is the one worth acting on early.

Water and sewer

The City of Lebanon Authority supplies South Lebanon’s water. The township runs its own sewer system and bills for it, and the wastewater is treated at CoLA’s plant.

On CoLA water, a service line letter matters at the house end: the utility handles its side of the curb stop, and the run into the house is the owner’s to arrange. The lead service line guide sets out what the letter means.