| Back O' The Page Stories 10/03
By Scott CoverdaleWe got a call from a client whose neighbors were threatening to file a complaint to the city about her wastewater system. For several years, her kitchen and bathroom sinks and her washing machine were draining into her front yard. She said that part of her sewer line had backed up, and no amount of snaking or jetting had been able to clear it out, so a relative just ran some three inch pipe around the side of the house and let it drain into the yard. She had intended to get it fixed later, but didn't know of any solutions that wouldn't cost her an arm and a leg, which she had no extra of. When the neighbors finally started complaining about the odor and the mosquitoes, she called CHRPA. Our workers tend toward the inquisitive, and when the pipes resisted all snaky intrusions, they cut open the walls and cut open the pipes to investigate. What they found was that a six-foot section of pipe was solid-plugged with what looks suspiciously like thinset, a mortar compound used to lay ceramic tile. Somebody had dumped their leftover materials down the kitchen drain, where it found perfect curing conditions, and became impenetrable by either water or snake. So we installed some new pipe, replaced drains and a faucet, sink, vanity, water heater and a leaking gas valve. The sewer line is doing its job, the neighbors are smiling, and our client has called me twice to thank us for helping her out of a fix.
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