Portland's sewer system has problems. Because stormwater and sewer are combined, the system overflows into the Willamette River during heavy rain. A lot of money has been spent to upgrade the treatment facilities to handle more volume with overflowing, and
AFAIK the problem has been somewhat improved. But this doesn't help with the localized problems of old sewer pipes that get overloaded by the volume and back up into basements, etc. Apparently in some areas of the city, homeowners are being offered lower sewer rates if they disconnect their downspouts. I don't recall getting any flyers with this offer so I may not be in such an area. The downside is that you have to find a way and a place on your property to drain rainwater so that it doesn't flood your yard, leak into your basement, etc. I've also thought about, if not full disconnection, using rainbarrels as a "buffer" so that rainwater from a heavy rain gets put into my sewer pipes gradually rather than all at once. Just started thinking about this, so no conclusions yet. I don't particularly want a big rainbarrel sitting in my already teeny-weeny "yard", but I could potentially find a place to hide it on the other side of the fence. Or, I could do nothing - as I've never had a sewer backup. Just searching for info here.