Woman left with 30K bill and uninhabitable house after sewage overflows from loo
SWNS
2024-04-22
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A woman has been left with a 30K bill and an ''uninhabitable'' house after sewage overflooded from her toilet.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, was at her home in the UK with her five children when she noticed water overflowing from the downstairs loo.
The water soon turned to thick brown sewage mixture of faeces and toilet paper which came pouring from her toilet and onto the bathroom floor.
The whole downstairs the house was decimated including the bathroom, the hallway, the kitchen and the living room.
The mum-of-five estimates that it could cost up to £30K to replace what she lost and complete the repairs needed.
She said: "I think the damage would come to something like £30K if you include everything I've lost and the work that will need to be done.
"I spent so long doing that house up and it is just heartbreaking watching it get completely ruined."
The toilet first overflooded on March 17, completely destroying skirting boards, flooring and the family's brand new kitchen.
Plumbers spent most of the day pumping the sewage out of the home and clearing the blockages inside the mains sewage pipe.
But the next day, sewage overflooded from the toilet again, causing further damage.
She said: "It was a mains sewage pipe that runs under my house that had clogged.
"My property is at the lowest point so when the pressure built up. It all just came flooding out.
"I just remember shouting to the kids to get towels to do whatever we could to stop it but there was too much.
"I just got the kids out and waited for the plumbers. There wasn't anything we could do."
The damage was such that the family had to evacuate and they have been staying at their grandmother's since.
The woman was told that the root cause of the blockages appeared to be people flushing non-flushable wet wipes down their toilets.
She was also warned that the sewage could even flood out of her kitchen sink if the blockages kept happening.
The water company have since said they will fit a non-return valve in the sewage pipe to prevent this from happening again, although this is yet to happen.
"I know the local council have sent letters to people to tell them about the dangers of flushing these wet wipes but they don't listen.
"They've even had people go knocking on doors too and they still haven't listened- you can't educate people like that."
The mum-of-five is now waiting for her insurance to see if they'll be able to cover the cost.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, was at her home in the UK with her five children when she noticed water overflowing from the downstairs loo.
The water soon turned to thick brown sewage mixture of faeces and toilet paper which came pouring from her toilet and onto the bathroom floor.
The whole downstairs the house was decimated including the bathroom, the hallway, the kitchen and the living room.
The mum-of-five estimates that it could cost up to £30K to replace what she lost and complete the repairs needed.
She said: "I think the damage would come to something like £30K if you include everything I've lost and the work that will need to be done.
"I spent so long doing that house up and it is just heartbreaking watching it get completely ruined."
The toilet first overflooded on March 17, completely destroying skirting boards, flooring and the family's brand new kitchen.
Plumbers spent most of the day pumping the sewage out of the home and clearing the blockages inside the mains sewage pipe.
But the next day, sewage overflooded from the toilet again, causing further damage.
She said: "It was a mains sewage pipe that runs under my house that had clogged.
"My property is at the lowest point so when the pressure built up. It all just came flooding out.
"I just remember shouting to the kids to get towels to do whatever we could to stop it but there was too much.
"I just got the kids out and waited for the plumbers. There wasn't anything we could do."
The damage was such that the family had to evacuate and they have been staying at their grandmother's since.
The woman was told that the root cause of the blockages appeared to be people flushing non-flushable wet wipes down their toilets.
She was also warned that the sewage could even flood out of her kitchen sink if the blockages kept happening.
The water company have since said they will fit a non-return valve in the sewage pipe to prevent this from happening again, although this is yet to happen.
"I know the local council have sent letters to people to tell them about the dangers of flushing these wet wipes but they don't listen.
"They've even had people go knocking on doors too and they still haven't listened- you can't educate people like that."
The mum-of-five is now waiting for her insurance to see if they'll be able to cover the cost.
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