Over the last few days my basement has been slowly flooding. It all started when I washed my uniforms, pushing something along the lines of 40 gallons of water down the drain. When I went downstairs that evening to hang up my uniforms I noticed a large puddle staring back at me in the southeast corner of the basement...
At first I decided to leave it alone, as I thought the kitchen/washer drain and the basement drain led to either a large dry well or the river. However over the next couple of days the water level rose, rather than falling. I decided to try plunging the drain, thinking that since I found a plunger in the basement when I bought the place that it might have been there for a reason...
This led to the next nasty surprise. When I worked the plunger, as expected, some nasty water came back up... However the level didn't fall. Instead the air began to reek, bringing my fears to light... This wasn't gray water (bathing water and/or wash water), it was black water (a kinder, gentler word for SEWAGE!!!)
This forced me to buy a cheap Chinese knockoff of one of the sump pumps that my factory makes parts for. Fortunately the pump did the trick, and within half an hour the water had dropped back down into the depression in the corner of the basement where the drain is located.
Even though that much is good news I am still left with the problem of why... Either my septic tank is backed up (a very real possibility considering the stupid behavior of the previous owners) or there's something bigger going on. I am going to have to do some investigation on this matter.
2 comments:
So sorry to read of your nasty basement problem! It must be disheartening and disgusting to have the sewer system back up into your otherwise-pleasant home. I hope you can straighten it out soon... it's a bit cold to air out the house! --JG
Aw, no good. I hope it turns out to be an easy problem to fix!
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