Sewer

The plumbing fiasco is over. J and I are very thankful for the same. To say that we were a bit stressed with no plumbing and the thought of having to come up with $30,000 would be an understatement. Now that it is all over, it is slightly amusing.

As I mentioned in a previous post, J happened to notice a trickle of water on our sidewalk a few weeks ago. He determined that it was some type of hydrostatic leak, but did not know the cause of it. He called out a plumber to help him figure it out. The plumber had little success initially figuring out what was wrong. When he inserted a camera into our sewer, he ran into as series of blocks, which led to a lot of work and few answers. Eventually, J and the plumber decided it would be best to dig up the yard and look at the sewer closer to the main line.

The plumber and his assistant dug in our yard for hours. They destroyed our plants and our grass. Then, they realized they should have dug a few feet to the north so they did that too. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, J called and said, “I have good news and I have bad news”.

For those of you who do not know me, I do not like bad news.

The bad news was that our plumbing still was not fixed. This meant another night without water, toilet usage, etc. The good news was that they determined the root of our problem. It turned out that a fiber optic cable was running through our side sewer.

J and I both recalled a variety of men working on our street towards the beginning of July. As trusting individuals, we both figured they should be there and that they knew what they were doing. Therefore, we did not bother to check out who they were.

I called the county to see if there was some record regarding who worked on our street. I figured there would be some requirement for the workers to have a work permit or something similar. After being transferred about 10 times to various offices, I realized that the simple system I hoped for did not exist. No one I spoke with had a clue how to locate the information I requested. Actually, it appeared that no one I spoke with had a clue at all. I suppose I should know better than to call the county so late in the day though too.

I remembered those commercials that tell people to ‘call before [they] dig”. I completed an Internet search with that phrase. It turns out that there is a complete list of those individuals who have called stating they are going to dig at a particular address. With the list is their personal contact information, as well as names of the agencies for which they work. I found that a local cable company (although oddly not our provider) completed a lot of work in our neighborhood recently.

J called the cable company and explained the situation. We basically wanted someone to come out to identify the line as theirs and then to give us direction regarding what to do with it (i.e. cut it, move it, etc.), as it was NOT going to remain in the same place. The company transferred J to someone in Philadelphia who gave him a claim number and indicated someone would get back to him in a week.

People, I can be a patient person. I can deal with screaming children. I can deal with psychotic people. I can even deal with whining students. I cannot, however, deal with being denied a bathroom. I am too high maintenance for that.

Needless to say, when J told me about his interaction with the cable company, I was not satisfied with the outcome. I snatched the phone from him and called the company back. I spoke with a lovely woman in California. I explained the situation to her. She put me on hold and then came back on the line. She said, “I’m sorry. The number you’re calling from is not in our system. It appears you’re not even a customer”. I clarified that I am not, in fact, a customer, nor do I anticipate becoming one in the future.

The woman indicated that she was unable to do anything for me, as my claim would have to be processed, but she did agree to enter a repair request, as the person J spoke with failed to do the same. I thanked her for her willingness to do the same and then clarified to her that it was my expectation that someone would be at my house that evening to meet with me. After all, I wanted he ability to use my bathroom again, but did not want to be charged for destroying the company’s fiber optic lines. She again put me on hold.

Several minutes later, the woman came back on the line. She indicated that she did not know what to do for me, as every local branch of her company appeared to be closed. I again reiterated my expectations and also indicated that my current situation was unacceptable. She told me that her supervisor would work on it and call me shortly.

A half-hour later, a man from California called and indicated that he contacted one of the top dogs in our state. He happened to be in our area and would be at our residence within the hour as I requested. As J and I sat outside waiting for some sort of utility truck, a man in a sleek mustang rolled up.

The man got out of his car and we introduced ourselves. We guided him to the ginormous construction site we like to call our yard. We showed him the side sewer and pointed out the cable. He said, “Yep. That is ours. It isn’t the first time we’ve done that and it won’t be the last. I am sorry guys. I will take care of it”. We supplied the man with pictures, told him that our plumber would be back in the morning and arranged for his return as well.

The following morning, the man was at our house as planned. He spoke with our plumber at length and the two came up with a game plan. Within an hour, there were representatives from the cable company, the county, the sewer district, and the cable company’s contractor. Work trucks, dump trucks, an entire village of worker bees, and other various construction equipment blocked our street. By the end of the day, the problem was solved.

Our plumbing worked. Our yard looked presentable enough. J and I were smiling again. You know what brought the biggest smile though? --- The large bill we were so concerned with….yea…the cable company took care of it. :)
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The picture shows our side sewer (the big gray pipe) with the fiber optic cable (in orange)running perpendicularly through it.