NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nothing seems to stop sewage from backing up into a Goodlettsville neighborhood.
Magnolia Station, mostly made up of seniors, has forked out nearly all their savings on plumbers and pumps, although nothing seems to be working.
We hope someone who hears about their situation can help them get to the bottom of this pricey problem.
During our visit to the neighborhood, we saw rather repulsive reminders of the last time sewage backed up onto the grass and streets.
Since June, their new, powerful sewage grinder pumps, buried under a hatch five feet below the ground, have struggled to move their wastewater to Metro's pressurized sewer without allowing outside waste to enter. Why this is happening is a bit of a mystery.
"We were having the sewage from Metro flowing into our system, backing up our pipes and overflowing our pit and onto the road. We had raw sewage going on to the road for at least four days, possibly five," said Barbara DeLong.
Barbara DeLong and her neighbors are stuck with bills they can't pay for a problem that might not even be their fault.
DeLong, 80, is the president of their homeowners association. The majority of the 18 residents at Magnolia Station are seniors.
Recently, DeLong put a $4,000 service on her credit card to ensure a backup was cleaned up right away.
"We have medical problems, and when you've got raw sewage flowing out and all over the place and the smell is horrendous... Happily, it never backed up into any of the units, but that's because we were pumping thousands and thousands — at least 30,000 gallons of sewage was pulled out of here before they were able to stop the flow at the main line and pump it out again," DeLong said.
The local water treatment equipment business they're working with thinks there could be an obstruction in the city's line, or possibly the city's infrastructure can't handle the increased demand in the area.
According to the neighbors, since the first of the year, they've spent a total of $14,313.98 on the problem. They've got a remaining balance of $49,787.85 for an emergency pump that was used for several days. Last year, they spent $33,797.03 on new parts and labor. This totals nearly $100,000.
They’ve paid off about half, but they have no idea how they'll pay off the rest.
"The pit is now empty, which is good, but I don't know how long that's going to take for it to decide to fill our pit again," DeLong said.
We did not receive a response from Metro Water Services before the publication of this story.
Do you have more information about this story? Or do you know how to help? You can email me at hannah.mcdonald@newschannel5.com.
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-Lelan Statom
