Friday, September 21, 2007

"Clogged manhole causes raw sewage to flood home"

This is too bad (from the North Central News).

“I came in to have coffee,” said Beth Player, whose husband’s parents’ home in the 13400 block of George Road was flooded with sewage on Sept. 7. “My father-in-law was sitting in his den, ankle-deep in it. It was coming up from the floor. The bathtub was like Niagra Falls, it covered the entire house in about 20 minutes.”

Player acted quickly to help her in-laws, 95-year-old David C. Player and his wife Wilma, 97, out of the house. She was able to remove sentimental and valuable items from the home, all the while rushing to beat the seeping mixture of dirty water and sewage. At 8 a.m., Player said she called San Antonio Water System.

And, if it weren't for the vandals and the careless jerks, this probably wouldn't have happened.

Workers found several two-by-fours in a nearby manhole that could have caused the backup. [SAWS spokeswoman Natalie] Tejeda said SAWS believes the debris was from construction activity on NW Military Highway, but said people dump items in manholes that clog lines all over San Antonio.

“We’ve pulled out tree stumps, car doors, engines; it’s amazing what we pull out of manholes,” said SAWS spokesman Greg Flores. “We do have vandalism that affects the buildup, and essentially, we don’t realize we have a problem until it rears its head.”


At least SAWS seems to be performing admirably in this situation. They're doing a lot to help clean up the Players' house, even though the backup seems to be someone else's fault.

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