If you need an emergency plumber in Glenside, call (215) 714-6692. Dispatch is available around the clock, including nights, weekends and holidays, and the dispatcher can talk you through the water shutoff while a licensed plumber is arranged.
Glenside is a mailing community, not a town with its own government. Most addresses fall in Abington Township or Cheltenham Township, and that choice decides who handles your sewer and your permits. Give the dispatcher your street and cross street, and we will ask about same-day appointments when available.
A Glenside address can sit in either of two townships
The Census Bureau lists Glenside as one place split into an Abington Township part and a Cheltenham Township part. The blocks around Keswick Avenue sit near the township line, and the exact boundary is easiest to confirm from the township. Your property tax bill or a call to either township office will settle it, and the table shows why it matters.
| Question | Abington Township side | Cheltenham Township side |
|---|---|---|
| Sewer main backing up into the street or several houses | Township Wastewater Department, 215-884-8329, which also takes backup calls | Aqua Pennsylvania took over the sewer system, and the township sends sewer emergencies to Aqua's 24/7 line at (877) 987-2782 |
| Who owns the pipe from the house to the main | Township pages say to call a plumber if the blockage is between the home and the main, and the ordinance wording was not found | Aqua's published tariff treats the customer service lateral as the customer's |
| Where plumbing permits come from | Community Development at 1176 Old York Road, 267-536-1000, with applications from a plumber registered with the township | Building, Zoning and Codes at 8230 Old York Road, Elkins Park, 215-887-1000, through the township's online portal |
| Public water | Aqua Pennsylvania serves most of the township | On the Cheltenham side, check your water bill to see which utility serves your address |
Boundary and utility details can change, so confirm with the township or Aqua before you rely on them.
Why Tookany Creek shapes the way Glenside basements flood
The 2017 Montgomery County hazard mitigation plan names Tookany Creek as the primary floodplain in the Glenside and Wyncote area. It also records homes in the 100 to 300 blocks of Keswick Avenue reporting flooding. If you live there, a working sump pump and a tested battery backup matter more than new paint on a basement wall, and our sump pump repair page explains how pumps fail.
On Brookdale Avenue the same plan describes a creek levee and a stormwater pump station. During Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, homes there flooded when a stormwater pump could no longer keep up. Rices Mill Road and Bickley Road also appear in the plan's flood history. A street pump moves street water, so the pump and check valve inside your own basement still carry your part of the load.
On the Abington side, the plan says Baeder Run was channelized in 2001 near Wannamaker and Baeder Roads, and four Wannamaker Road homes still report flooding. The township also bought and demolished 38 flood-prone homes after the 1996 flood, including some on Baeder Road and Madison Avenue. If your block is close to those streets, ask the township about flood maps before you finish a basement.
A state DEP project called Glenside Flood Control Phase II had survey work around North Avenue, Glenside Avenue and Rices Mill Road in summer 2025. Cheltenham Township's notice gave no construction date. Treat it as future relief, not as protection for this season's storms, and look at basement waterproofing options if water keeps returning.
Water in a Glenside basement right now?
Shut off the main, keep clear of electrical, and call. A dispatcher is on the line at any hour.
Three Glenside streets and what each means for a plumber's visit
These are places the township and county documents name, with the practical point for each.
Keswick Avenue and Keswick Village
Abington Township lists Keswick Village as a community, and the Keswick Theatre sits at 291 N Keswick Avenue. Flood reports on the 100 to 300 blocks mean a wet basement here is worth treating as a drainage problem first, and the dispatcher will ask which township your address is in.
Brookdale Avenue
Homes here depend on a creek levee and a stormwater pump station, according to the county plan. Cheltenham's own page says the levee is still under study, so a pump and a check valve in your own house are the safer assumption.
Baederwood
The county plan says this Abington-side area was built in the 1950s and still has a few sets of twin homes. In a twin, a leak in a shared wall can involve the neighbor, so tell the dispatcher if the wet wall is shared. Nearby Jenkintown sits just across the Baeder Creek corridor.
What a 1938 median house tends to hide in its walls
In Census estimates for 2020 to 2024, the median home in the Glenside place was built in 1938. About 58 percent of its housing units date to 1939 or earlier, and roughly 86 percent were built before 1960. Those figures cover both townships together, and they are estimates.
Houses of that age often still have galvanized supply pipe and old cast iron or clay sewer laterals, though every house differs. Abington's 2007 township plan says Glenside's sewers were replaced in the 1990s. That work does not tell you the age of the pipe running from your own foundation, so a sewer camera inspection is the way to find out before a backup does.
If a plumber finds several leaks on one galvanized run, ask about repiping the whole branch rather than patching one joint at a time. It costs more on the day, and it can end a string of repeat calls.
What an older Glenside house tends to need first
Water on the basement floor after rain
Start with the sump pump, its discharge pipe and the float. Abington Township says sump pumps must be piped out of the house and never connected to the sanitary sewer, so ask your plumber where yours discharges.
Sewage or gurgling at the lowest drain
Stop using water and call the line. If the blockage is in your own pipe, sewer line cleaning clears it, and the township or Aqua handles the main.
A leak with no visible source
A meter that keeps moving with every fixture off points to a hidden leak. Aqua's guidance is to read the meter before and after a two-hour window with no water use, and leak detection can find the spot.
Weak pressure or a wet yard near the street
A break between the curb stop and the house is the customer's to repair under Aqua's guidance. See water service line repair, and call 811 before any digging.
Rusty water after a cold snap
Brown water often points to corroding galvanized pipe, though a utility main flush can cause it too. A plumber can tell which by checking water at a tap inside the house.
Before we arrive: your first steps with water in a Glenside basement
The order below keeps people safe and limits damage while the plumber is on the way.
Shut off the main
The main valve is usually where the water line enters the basement wall near the meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops, then tell the dispatcher if it will not close.
Keep power away from water
Do not wade through standing water to reach a breaker panel or an outlet. If the panel is dry and reachable, switch off the circuits near the wet area, otherwise call the line and wait.
Stop using drains if sewage is coming up
No flushing, laundry or dishwasher until a plumber clears the line. Then call the sewer owner for your side of the line, the Abington Wastewater Department or Aqua.
Clear the area
Lift boxes and electronics off the floor and photograph the damage before cleanup. Your insurer will ask for those pictures.
Leave if you smell gas
Go outside and call 911 or your gas utility before anyone calls a plumber. Do not flip switches on the way out.
Call the line
Dial (215) 714-6692 with your street, cross street and township if you know it. A clear description helps the right plumber arrive with the right parts.
Telling a main-line backup from a clog in your own pipe
Who owns the blockage?
Abington's township FAQ says that if only your own drains are slow, the problem is likely inside your pipes. If every drain in the house backs up or a neighbor has the same trouble, the main may be involved, and the township or Aqua should hear about it too. Calling both is fine, and the plumber can tell you what the camera shows.
Finding your Glenside address from our Old York Road base
Our address is 1150 Old York Rd in Abington, and Glenside lies roughly southwest of it. Easton Road (Route 152) and Old York Road (PA 611) are the two main roads dispatchers use to place a call, so mention whichever is closest.
The Glenside train station is at 49 W. Glenside Avenue, and Arcadia University is at 450 S. Easton Road. Landmarks like these help a dispatcher place an address quickly, especially near the township line.
Glenside plumbing questions
Yes. The dispatch line is open 24 hours a day, every day, including holidays, and it covers both the Abington and Cheltenham sides of Glenside. Call, give your street and cross street, and describe the problem. We will tell you what to shut off while a licensed plumber is arranged.
Yes, three ZIP codes. 19038 is the Glenside mailing ZIP, and zip-codes.com lists Erdenheim, Laverock and Wyndmoor as other names used with it. The ZIP spans three school districts and parts of Abington and Cheltenham townships.
19095 is Wyncote, next door along the Tookany Creek corridor, where the county flood plan treats Glenside and Wyncote as one floodplain area. 19046 is the Jenkintown mailing ZIP, and it covers Abington Township ground along the Jenkintown borough line near Baederwood.
If your mail shows a different ZIP, call anyway and we will place the address.
The Census Bureau splits Glenside between the two townships, and we found no published street list for the boundary. Your property tax bill usually names the municipality, or either township office can tell you from your address. The dispatcher can also start the job without knowing, then sort out the township for permits and the sewer.
Call the line first so a plumber is on the way, then report a possible main blockage. On the Abington side that is the Township Wastewater Department at 215-884-8329. On the Cheltenham side the township says sewer emergencies go to Aqua's 24/7 line at (877) 987-2782.
Not yet. The state DEP's Glenside Flood Control Phase II had survey work around North Avenue, Glenside Avenue and Rices Mill Road in summer 2025, and Cheltenham's notice gave no construction timeline. A sump pump, a clear discharge pipe and a check valve on basement drains are still your own protection.
It depends on the township and the work. Abington requires plumbing permit applications from a master plumber registered with the township, and Cheltenham's code requires a plumbing permit for repairing a building sewer. Ask the township office for your address whether a water heater swap needs a permit, and the plumber will confirm it as well.
Possibly. The Census median build year for the Glenside place is 1938, and about 86 percent of units predate 1960, so older materials are common but vary house by house. A plumber can identify supply pipe by sight, and a sewer camera shows the condition of the lateral.