Property owners in the City of Toledo can apply for grant funding from the City of Toledo to cover costs of disconnecting sources of inflow originating from their property.  The program focuses on downspouts, uncapped cleanouts, area drains and driveway drains.  Making such disconnections has benefits to both the property owners and the City of Toledo.  Property owners may apply to this program at any time.  The City of Toledo has undertaken studies of neighborhood sewer systems, in the process locating private inflow sources such as downspouts and driveway drains.  The City of Toledo notifies property owners of prohibited connections and establishes a timeline for making the necessary corrections.

Private sources of inflow to the sanitary sewer system can greatly overload the system during rainstorms, contributing to basement flooding, sewer overflows and treatment plant bypasses.  these connections are prohibited by TMC 930.04.  Studies have shown that up to 75 percent of a collection system's inflow originates on private property.  Removal of these sources is a relatively cost effective way to reduce some of these problems.  The alternative to removing this flow is transportation and treatment, which is generally much more expensive because it requires construction of large intercepting sewers, storage facilities and wet weather treatment facilities, as well as ongoing operation and maintenance costs.

The program focuses on downspouts, uncapped cleanouts, area drains and driveway drains.  Foundation drains and leaking lateral sewers are not addressed because previous studies have shown them to be not cost effective to remove.