Palm Beach County
About 40 percent of Greenacres homes were built during the 1980s boom, and Tropical Storm Isaac brought extensive flooding to the city in 2012. Heavy rain, aging plumbing in condos and villas, and septic systems in the oldest section drive most water damage calls.
ZIP codes in the area
Some of these ZIP codes also include neighboring communities.
Tropical Storm Isaac passed through in late August 2012, and the South Florida Water Management District’s review afterward reported extensive flooding in Greenacres. The same report named Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. The city lies inside the Lake Worth Drainage District, whose network serves a large part of the county between Okeechobee Boulevard and the Hillsboro Canal. When rain falls faster than that system can move it, water collects in streets and yards first, then finds door thresholds and garages.
Rain that comes in from outside is not clean water. Carpet and pad it soaked usually go, drywall is cut above the wet line, and surfaces are cleaned before fans and dehumidifiers go in. The flood cleanup page walks through that order, and the hurricane water damage checklist covers what to do before and after a storm.
Greenacres covers about six square miles in the middle of the county, between Palm Springs to the east and Wellington to the west. Its founder platted the first townsite west of Military Trail in the 1920s, but the city really filled in during the 1980s, when it was the fastest-growing municipality in central Palm Beach County. About 40 percent of today’s homes come from that decade. Another fifth were built after 2000.
The mix is broad. The city counts single-family houses, condominiums, villas, townhomes and apartments, and about 5 percent of units are mobile homes. Roughly a third sit in buildings with five or more units.
A late-1980s condo or villa is now close to 40 years old. Some owners have already replaced water heaters and supply lines; others are still running original parts. In attached and stacked homes, a slow leak under a sink or behind a washer rarely stays in one unit. It shows up as a stain on a neighbor’s ceiling or a swollen baseboard on the other side of the wall, and both units need moisture readings.
The first platted neighborhood, still called the Original Section, is one of the areas the city’s Utilities Element identifies for a public sewer study because homes there still use septic tanks. The plan also promotes converting wells and septic systems to central service. Until that happens, a failing tank or a clogged line can push wastewater back up through a shower or floor drain. That calls for sewage cleanup, which removes contaminated materials and disinfects before drying.
The three ZIP codes on this page cover much more than Greenacres. Only about 18 percent of 33413 is inside the city, and its mail is addressed to West Palm Beach. 33463 is about 35 percent Greenacres, with the rest mostly unincorporated. 33467 is almost entirely unincorporated land west of the city with a Lake Worth mailing address. The same 24/7 line serves homes in all of them.
The South Florida Water Management District reported extensive flooding in Greenacres after Tropical Storm Isaac in August 2012, along with Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. Rain from a strong tropical system can put water into garages and ground floors.
Greenacres was the fastest-growing city in central Palm Beach County in the 1980s, and about 40 percent of its homes date from that decade. The median build year is 1987, so many water heaters, valves and supply lines have been in service a long time or already replaced once.
The city's Utilities Element calls for studying public sewer for the Original Section and other developed areas still using septic tanks. In those homes, a backed-up drain can mean sewage inside the house.
About a third of the city's housing units are in buildings with five or more units. Leaks in stacked or attached homes often reach a neighbor's ceiling or wall before they are found.
Services
FAQ
Possibly not. ZIP code 33413 uses a West Palm Beach mailing name and is only about 18 percent Greenacres; most of it is unincorporated, including parts of Lake Belvedere Estates and Royal Palm Estates. 33463 and 33467 use Lake Worth. About a third of 33463 is in the city, while 33467 is almost all unincorporated land to the west. All three ZIP codes are covered by the 24/7 line.
No. Water from a septic backup is treated as sewage. Affected porous materials such as carpet, pad and the bottom of drywall are usually removed, hard surfaces are cleaned and disinfected, and only then is the area dried. Keep people and pets out of the room until the cleanup is done.
Stay out from under any section of ceiling that is sagging, turn off lights or fans in that area, and set out containers. Then let the upstairs owner and the association or property manager know right away so the source can be shut off. Photograph the ceiling, walls and anything that got wet before cleanup starts.
Call now
Shut off the water if you can reach the valve safely, then call. Describe where it came from and which rooms are wet.
When you call, have ready