The Sewer Pit of Despair

In keeping with my new Food-centric Way of Life, my Garden plans have expanded from "do nothing" to "plant vegetables". Of course, either plan is likely to have the same outcome, as my gardening abilities rank right up there with President Bush's ability to manage this country.

Hope Springs Eternal, and maybe a seed or two will do likewise.

But before I get to start in on committing Planticide, it's high time I addressed the Fallout from last year's Side Sewer Adventure.

When we left off our Exciting Tale, our heroine had successfully returned to the land of a working sewer line, when the unfortunate discovery was made that the neighbor's sewer line was leaking, and water (?) was accumulating in the lowest elevation Sewer Pit.

After some consulting between the sewer contractor and the inspector, they determined that there was really nothing they could do if the neighbor didn't want to fix the line.

Flash forward several months, and the Sewer Pit sank several inches to become an unsighly blight on my front median. I dithered about what to do. I festered with annoyance at the neighbor. I finally called Seattle DPD.

The friendly person in the 'sewers' section first wanted to transfer me to the rat-on-my-neighbor hotline.

"Let's assume for a minute that I don't want to report my 90 year old neighbor with a broken hip," I said. "What else can I do?"

I could practically see Mr. DPD Employee scratch his head. "Well," he said, "4 inches really isn't all that much."

Let's pause to let that one sink in.

"It's probably just loose dirt getting washed away, so it should be fine if you fill it in and plant grass."

I assume he means the lawn type.

So that's my little project. Topsoil, grass seed, and a little fertilizer later, I'm ready to watch the grass grow.

A good day to go easy on fluids

Why have several gallons of water accumulated overnight in the lowest elevation sewer pit? Hint: The Weather is Sunny and Dry.

Yes, it appears our sewer system really is that bad.

Today's sewer replacement fun started with joining sections of pipe to form a 70 foot or so Extra Long pipe. They have this wacky machine which fuses the sections together.

Then the Best Plumbing Boys cut out the plumbing sections in the various holes they dug yesterday, and we were officially sewer-free (as opposed to unofficially, which apparently has been the case for some time).

Next, they ran a cable through the existing drain, which they attached on the side away from the street to the new Extra Long pipe.

In the picture, you can see the broken sections of concrete pipe the new sewer "burst".Then they pulled it through, cut away the section in the middle hole, and fitted pieces together to join in the existing drains.

That's the point where our sewers intersect. Best Plumbing wound up having to replace about 3' of the neighbor's pipe, as it had disintegrated.

Several sentences to describe it. 8 am until 3:30 pm sans facilities to experience it. In other words, an eternity.

Ballardia Side Sewer – the Movie

We've finally done the little procedure we should have gone through back in November, and had Roto Rooter + camera film the guts of our side sewer. The camera is on the line to the left, and the little viewer off to the right shows the sewer line and simultaneously films the movie (VHS sadly).

The average life of a concrete sewer, which we have, is 50-70 years, so at 76 it appears age has caught up with us. There are 4 holes in it, one of which is enormous, and an ominous looking crack. Essentially what’s been happening is that we get “buildup” – my euphemism, not theirs – in the enormous hole, which eventually dams up the sewer line, and then we get our lovely backups.

It would appear that our sanitary facilities are less than sanitary. Is it time to carve a crescent moon on our bathroom door?

Ever wanting to know if I did anything wrong, I asked Mr Rooter if there was anything we could have done….poured their special enzyme down the drain, given up my predilection for Squeezably Soft Charmin tissue….but he says the only thing we could have done was fire up the garden hose, shove it down the cleanout and give the sewer line a weekly blast. And that would only solve the backups, not our sanitation issue.

Next activity: sewer replacement quotes. They will use the ‘pipe burst’ method, where they run PVC pipe along the previous sewer route and break apart the old sewer, then they reconnect all interconnecting drains. Roto Rooter marked the interconnecting drain locations, which they could spot using the camera , and they can see the sewer plan maps online at the Seattle DPD site.

Now, since it’s Friday night, Martin & I can curl up with popcorn & watch our sewer video. If I can find the VCR that is, it’s been awhile.