Apparently I haven't whined about this since I started the blog, but one of the joys of owning a dilapidated old home in this dilapidated old city is that the sewer system is, shall we say, less than ideal.
Shortly after I bought this house, I discovered that everything that was being put into my drain from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors was not, as it should, joining its smelly friends in the municipal wastewater stream, but was instead overflowing the basement toilet and backing up into the basement tub. Joy.
After ripping out the basement bathroom completely and replacing it, and calling a bunch of plumbers in to snake and inspect my sewer line, everything seemed OK.
Until 2 years later, when the same thing happened again (less dramatically). It really seems like the prior homeowner might've mentioned this, but the giant tree at the end of my property line apparently happily sends roots into the sewer line until, about every two years, it prevents my house from draining properly and backs up into the basement. Say it with me: ew.
This time, I had found my exterior cleanout, and had discovered that, since the blockage was outside my property, the city would snake my line for free (for taxes, anyway). They did this, and all was well, until 2 years had elapsed, at which time they did it again. Whoo!
Cut to yesterday afternoon, when I started a load of laundry then came down to work on this here computer. During one of the drain cycles, I heard loud bubbling noises from the basement toilet, tub, sink, and the drain for the washing machine that I have yet to purchase. BLOOP BLOOP BLOOP BLORP... uh oh. I ran upstairs and turned off the washer, came back down and saw that nothing had overflowed, but the toilet was overfull with gray water (must be why they call it graywater) and the tub had about an inch of it. Joy. So around 2 pm, I called 311 (previously I was able to call the Department of Water and Wastewater directly, and they always sent someone out within an hour. Same guy, actually: I should get him a Christmas present) and they entered a ticket, promising someone would be out within 4 hours.
Four hours came and went, and I called back to find that there was no evidence of my ticket. They couldn't find it by my address, name, etc. The woman who was looking for it (who was more helpful than the woman who took it in the first place) kept asking me irrelevant questions, like, "does the water have an odor?" to which I dearly wanted to reply, "why yes, it smells like GET SOMEONE OUT HERE TO SNAKE MY FUCKING SEWER LINE!" but I did not.
She ended up putting in another ticket, assuring me that someone would be out within the next 24 hours, and she'd have them call first. I assumed that this meant that they'd come out the next morning, and that they'd call from behind my house, so I decided to take a Navy Shower and go get some beer, and then work from home today. The shower was... well, I was clean enough, and a little proud of how little water was in the tub when I finished. And also: beer.
So this morning, I got up, let my coworkers know what was up, and got to work. Around 8:15 or so, I heard a Nextel phone in the alley and saw a truck out there. I ran upstairs to get my keys, then went out and unlocked the gate, but he was already gone. I called 311 back and told them what happened, and the woman said, "I don't think those drivers even have phones..." Organized! Anyway, I got a little irate with her, but apparently not so much that she deleted the ticket, and a little later, the inspector came back and I told him what happened, and he said he'd send a snake truck out. Hey, thanks.
About 15 minutes later, a woman from DPW called me and asked for details, because apparently the snake truck driver was having trouble finding my house. I told her where I was, and she thanked me and hung up. She called back about 20 seconds later to say that he still couldn't find it, and where was 910? I said, well, 910 doesn't exist, I'm at 1910. That was an hour and a half ago.
I just called 311 and all they could tell me was "it's still live." Great. So am I, but I smell pretty bad...
I'm seriously considering just showering and going to work, and leaving the gate unlocked. Unfortunately, it's hard to close, and there's not going to be any way for me to tell if they've come by or not, except that if they haven't, and I try to run the laundry, I'll have a tubful of detergent.
Sigh. Meanwhile, tomorrow I get to pretend to be a Republican all day for the Primary Election. While it didn't pan out
last time, I feel certain that this time riches shall shower upon me, and I can move to the county.
UPDATE: THE CLOG IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!
UPDATED UPDATE: I have never been happier to smell sewer gas.
Labels: 311
