WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Residents of nine West Valley City homes had a rough start to the new year when raw sewage flooded their basements.
Magna Water District believes the problem started when someone tried to flush a t-shirt down the toilet. It got clogged in a sewage pipe, backing up water near a manhole on 7200 West and Antelope Road, sending the septic water seeping through residents' floors.
After a neighbor came by asking if he had any backup in his basement, Robert Goodick discovered up to an inch of sewage water seeping up through his floor.
"I'm not sure how long it had been bubbling or coming up through the floor but it was definitely all over the floor just spread all over the basement," Goodick said.
Goodick and his wife immediately started working to get as many of their possessions as possible out of the stinky mess, but some damage had already been done.
"Some furniture, some toys, some camping gear, things like that on the floor, some office supplies, things of that nature," he said.
Magna Water District was able to fix the problem in about 45 minutes. They say the problem is rare and it could have been a lot worse.
"It's not real common that we get a backup like this but it does happen," said Brent Williams. "This particular main covers an area of probably 3,000 homes...so it's a big main line that plugged up. It could have been a lot worse than the nine homes it affected."
Homeowners say they've got thousands of dollars in damages. Magna Water District's insurance company will decide in the next couple days if they'll pay for the cleanup.
