Help!! Sewage!!

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mad-hatters-wife

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I live in a city and do not have a septic tank. As far as I know all the sewage that leaves my home goes through city pipes.

In my basement, at the corner closest to the street in front of my home, there is a hole in the floor, I'd estimate it to be about 3' x 4' with pipes going into and out of it. My husband and I were noticing flies coming into the house from the basement and went to investigate, and found the hole full of sewage. It didn't smell too bad until it was stirred up when my husband used a long pipe to see how deep it was. There are maggots on the surface of the sewage.

We do not have a lot of money so our options are limited. What could be causing this problem, what do we do, who do we call, and how much would it cost to take care of this problem. Right now it's about a foot from the floor and we are worried about it spilling over.

Can anyone help?
 
How deep is it and did it have a lid and dose it have concrete sides, it sounds like a septic tank!
 
I would say it is about 4-5 feet deep, does have concrete wall, does not have a lid. There are pipes that lead from our plumbing, and pipes that lead to the city sewage system.
 
Get a septic tank pumping company out to pump it out and clean it out. You may have a broken pipe or something but it shouldn't be full of sewer.
 
I have a septic company coming out between 11 and 1pm. Hoping it's not going to cost an arm and a leg to have it pumped and cleaned. I don't think there is a broken pipe, but I do think there is a clog some where.
 
I can't think of why you would have a hole like that in the basement and you may have a back up but it should leak into the basement unless you have an open pipe. What ever the problem, after getting it cleaned up you still want to get the moisture out of the basement. Non of this is healthy.
 
The plumber just left. He said the hole is just a pit and that there is a "u" shaped pipe under the hole, which connects the house drainage pipes to the pipes that lead to the city's system. The pipes were clogged with baby wipes, which my 4 year old daughter was flushing!! He snaked the pipes and the sewage that was able to drain did. He told me my husband will have to shovel the sludge on the bottom of the hole and then pour a gallon of bleach in and around the hole then rinse with the hose. As long as no more wipes get flushed it will not back up again. My whole house smells rancid now though, even with windows open and my husband can't do anything til he gets out of work after 5pm.
 
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