Gruu. What a Weekend.

[richardandtracy]

Unexpectedly, over the weekend, sewage featured rather more than I'd like in our garden.

The mains sewer was blocked, and our garden is the lowest point above the blockage. So, when the housing estates higher upstream automatically pumped out their 1 or 2 tonne holding tanks, it all ended up fountaining out of our manhole covers and drains into the garden. Mashed up solids and all. We had a stinking moat on two sides of the house, on the hottest day of the year so far. Deep joy.

The blockage was cleared after a 2 hr wait for someone to arrive, and 1.5 hrs to clear the blockage. Then it took a while to clear the patio. Unfortunately the lawn has quite a lot of solids that was sieved out by the grass that will have to decay away naturally.

If there is one good thing, at least the lawn is fertilised.

Regards,

Richard.

[19Roland19]

Ewwww!

Not sure it actually will naturally decay though. processed food is not natural.

[rcperryls]

Yuck! That could easily ruin a week-end. Hopefully it clears up quickly.

Carole

[wendywombat]

Oh YuKkk!

Not nice at all!!
Will you get any compensation for the damage/distress caused?

[richardandtracy]

All the organic matter will decay away fairly fast - after all it has already been through a partial decay process in someone's intestines. There doesn't seem to be much plastic waste (nappys/diapers or prophylactics) so that won't be a problem. I think it'll probably dry out into a light grey crust that we'll have to rake out or water in. Just have to be careful with hygiene in that area for a few months.

As for compensation - some hope! We don't even get help clearing up the garden. To be honest, I'm just happy that it has stopped.

Regards,

Richard.

[tiffstitch]

Yikes, I'm so sorry you have to deal with that. We had something similar, but not to the extent of having solids anywhere thankfully.

[fccs]

Ewwww - what a nasty weekend. You'll have to let us know if your garden thrives with the additional fertilizer.

[Allyn]

Oh dear. What a malodorous event. I do hope there were no edible vegetables in the area affected by the poop flood. I agree that as long as the remains are biodegradable, they'll disintegrate and be fertilizer. If it was too 'fresh', however, you may have some burned spots as you might get using any manure that hasn't been composted first.

[RosemaryD]

Oh wow that's unpleasant. You'll have the best lawn in the neighbourhood for the rest of the summer though! Looks like there might be some rain towards the end of the week to wash it in a bit.

[Carole]

Oh no. That must have been disgusting. Hope your lawn is back to normal soon.

[pattiebelle]

So sorry that happened to you, Richard. (ew,ew and ew)

You seem to be dealing with it well, however. I'd want to move!!!

[fccs]

I do hope there were no edible vegetables in the area affected by the poop flood.

I don't mean to laugh at Richard's situation, but poop flood - oh the visuals!

[Allyn]

I don't mean to laugh at Richard's situation, but poop flood - oh the visuals!

Oh! But the visuals were gotten from the orginal post. I was just being succinct.

[karen4bells]

I really feel for you and I hope the poop flood is gone for good soon and your lawn won't be affected too adversely!!

[richardandtracy]

Don't want to move, even though there are a couple of flood risks with our house. I think we can contain the thunderstorm runoff flood risk, but the sewers are a problem. There seem to be tree roots getting into the main sewer a bit down stream of our house (on the other side of the road, two doors down), and we are the lowest house above that regular blockage. The last blockage was 2012, but not so bad. What worries me is if it happens when we are on holiday and don't notice it for a week or two...

We don't have any vegetables in that area, as it's part of the 'formal' garden adjacent to the house. Further away it gets less controlled, and beyond that, 30ft up the 1 in 3 slope bank, is where we have the veg patch. Not ideal, as the soil depth is 4" over 18" of flint and then it's chalk. Leads to somewhat distorted carrots and parsnips, which is why we have tended to let much of the veg plot go fallow, simply harvesting whatever happens to grow in the garden - Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries, Blackberries, wild parsnips (not really wild, they are cultivated ones gone to seed in the garden & we take a few every year), dandelion, elder, nettle (for soup) and cow parsley root. Also there are some Quince, Crab Apples, Raspberries, Sloes and Damsons.

The grass in the lawn will, I'm sure, survive and be well fertilised. And I'll have to mow it even more frequently.

Regards,

Richard

[Fizzbw]

Ugh. That's disgusting. hope it all clears up really soon! I take it you don't have dogs? That would be a nightmare trying to keep them off it and clean.....

Let's hope nature does its best for you!!

Niki xx

[richardandtracy]

Fortunately we have cats, and they are rather fastidious, not liking to roll in foreign smells at all. If my dad's dogs were to visit... that would be really horrible, as they go out of their way to roll in and eat anything really pungent.

Regards,

Richard.