Third, condominial sewer designs save on the length of pipe needed.
This slide shows three different condominial sewer designs.
On the left is a backyard design.
Here the small diameter lines are laid in sequence through the backyards of
house plots.
This design substantially reduces the length of sewer line required.
The disadvantage of this design is that if the sewer becomes blocked by the actions
of a downstream neighbor, the sewage backs up into the yards and
homes of the upstream houses.
More community organization and
planning are needed to address such collective action problems.
The middle design in this slide shows the condominial branch going through the front
yards of the houses.
The design on the right panel on this slide shows the condominial sewer line
laid under the sidewalk in front of the house.
Both the front yard and the sidewalk designs in the middle and
right panel use more sewer line than the backyard system, but
they still save money compared to traditional sewer systems.
This is because they do not have to be protected from heavy traffic and
because they use small bore or small diameter pipe.