With the cost of living so high these days, it’s good to be self-sufficient with DIY and all, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of others. And in one Virginia neighborhood, one neighbor’s DIY project came at the expense of others’ noses. According to Reddit user Mcampbell47, this neighbor is pumping septic liquid into the community’s drainage system.
“This wasn’t some ordinary puddle of water with a garden hose running into it,” explained McCampbell. “The odor coming from that drainage ditch smelled like straight-up sewage.” OP said the smell was so strong that people could smell it from 8 houses away. Apparently, this isn’t the first neighbor to pump sewage out of their home and into the neighborhood ditch.
This Wasn’t the Only Neighbor Pumping Sewage Into the Community
“This is now the SECOND neighbor we’ve had who regularly pumps what appears to be wastewater from their septic system directly into the roadside drainage ditch,” McCampbell added. “At what point did this become acceptable behavior?!” OP finds this so frustrating because the community has children and pets who regularly stroll about, so allegedly untreated or unmanaged raw septic waste flowing around is both inconsiderate and potentially harmful.
“That’s nasty and potentially disease-spreading,” a Redditor remarked on the r/Wellthatsucks post’s comments. “Contact the local newspapers and TV news if the health department doesn’t fix the problem. People can be really disgusting.” Another person chimed in, saying, “That’s where cholera comes from, call the county health department.”
Countless other commenters agreed that what the neighbors are doing is illegal, and they wouldn’t be wrong. According to Virginia law, “The discharge of untreated sewage onto the land or into the waters of the Commonwealth is prohibited.” However, besides OP’s report, there have been no independent confirmations that the neighbors are illegally pumping sewage into the community ditch.
McCampbell claims they’ve already contacted the local health department and their HOA about the situation. “Regardless of what it is, the contents should not be pumped out into a public drainage ditch. That’s been my argument this entire time,” they concluded.
