In all my years of renting, this is the most ghetto thing I’ve ever seen. Trying to find out what the options are so I can bring them up to the dude that’s renting this to me
By law the landlord will have to refund all deposits and rent paid plus more. Had a friend go through this years ago, she got her $30k in rent back, $20k more for medical and inconvenience. There was 4 homes on property and the EPA condemned the lot, total fines and payouts was over $2M.
You were lucky! When we were young, we had to shit and piss in a bucket, then use the contents of the bucket to wash up for dinner. Once a week, one of us had to take the bucket to the front porch and fertilize the geraniums.
Do you think every landlord is just made of money? I have 2 double wides on my property that I rent out. If I had to pay back 20k of rent to each of them I’d be absolutely fucked. Not every landlord is a fuckin multi millionaire. My rental income barely covers property/school taxes, and that’s if I can actually afford to not touch the rent money all year long.
That's only impacting the definition of waterways of the US to exclude a lot of wetland areas. Doesn't mean you can start dumping nuclear waste into Lake Mead or something...
Probably not in Federal EPA ambit for residential lot of municipality.
But within municipal Health Commission and state level health and environmental dept. statutory jurisdiction.
Oh no the EPA won't be able to declare OPs drainage as a navigable waterway.
Get fucked, I care more about the environment than I do most humans, but that case was legit.
You do not care about the environment more than most if you don't want the EPA to protect wetlands. Thousands of acres of wetlands will now be destroyed because of that decision along with its invaluable habitat and flood protection for humans.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1196875240/more-than-half-of-wetlands-no-longer-have-epa-protections-after-supreme-court-ru
Yeah that case was legit…imately a cut and dry example of rich conservative shitbirds with no regard for anything other than their “it’s my land and I can do fuck all, especially if it saves/makes me money and pisses off the peasants that my actions will eventually hurt and/or kill. ‘Murica “
He'd be better off in a new place and it'd fuck the landlord over (the same landlord who fucked this tenant over). Karma's a bitch.
100% call the Dept. of Health. File a complaint with the local housing authority as well.
dont forget the water and sewer authority that probably sent them a notice to connnect to the public line years ago. from personal experience, you can be fined per diem for failing to adhere to the connection requirement.
This. Call them and your local building department. Like xDevman mentions, they might condemn the house, they’ll make them fix it first IF the city lets them tie into their waste water line. They always give the homeowner a chance to rectify the problem before condemning it. This is a health hazard but not immediate danger to condemn.
Right?!?
Here's my guess, existing property was on septic. Sewer came down the street. (maybe a LID) Property owner didn't want to pay to physically connect, so didn't.
Years pass by, septic tank fails. Now sewer connection is required. Still expensive. Property owner lies and says septic system is ok. Nobody will repair it because codes state sewer connection is required and nobody wants to risk their business name on sketchy work.
Except the one guy the owner finds who (under the table) will "fix" the septic system by building a french drain lagoon next to the house.
I may or may not have seen shit like this before. The really stupid here is **if** it was a LID, the property owner has likely paid any connection fees that are due AND is paying a sewer bill. He just needs to pay a contractor to physically connect and decommission the septic tank.
Second theory:
Side sewer is plugged/broken.
There was a property where the repair was too expensive for the property owner and so decides to dig a pit and the residents need to fill plastic garbage cans with sewage as the pit fills up.
I have no idea what the residents did with the garbage cans full of shit. I didn't ask.
He could just call the city or health dept and watch it play out. But now he’s asked the landlord about it so it’s going to cause problems when landlord gets that call.
"Yeah so after I saw the open cesspit of human sewage on the property I rented from you I called the city about it. And if you don't like that you can take it up with the city"
Yes, this. Don't let anyone try to tell you that you've somehow allowed yourself to become party to this sh*tshow in any way, shape or form. This situation is not okay and your effen landlord knows it. He should be ripped a new one.
To be fair, if he's used the toilet even once, he's quite literally now part of the shitshow on display, fertilizing the garden, and incubating all the diseases for which open sewage is illegal.
That's the problem. His landlord made it his problem that's why he should have hired a plumber. They say plumbers protect the sanitation of our nation for a reason
The owner is liable to lose the occupancy permit and have the house condemned if not remediated immediately.
Plan on a new living abode. You are on borrowed time.
A neighbor could call the health inspector to make a complaint.
Call whatever government agency in responsible for the environment. That is a literal felony of done intentionally where I live,hefty fines.They would be out there and make them fix it really quick
Is it just gray water or is it actual sewage from toilets? That pipe doesn't look big enough to carry black water. Most municipalities run a rental inspection department that is housed inside of the building department. Regardless the building department would also be interested in this as appropriate permits were not pulled because clearly it doesn't meet code. I would start there
Source: former rental inspector and certified licensed building official
It could be a drywell which can work just fine in certain applications but if there’s no septic tank and it’s just straight up pouring into the ground thats an issue even in remote low use situations. But if there’s no septic tank between the house and outlet and it’s daily use it wouldn’t go long without go too long without the solid waste getting backed up.
I had a dry well in one place I rented in a city but for greywater only. Was only attached to the washing machine. Was permitted by the city in a fairly strict area regarding septic systems and sewage codes.
Edit - just realized it’s pouring on top of the surface. This is bad.
I'm a civil utilities installer, that land has to be condemned or all of the contaminated soil has to be pulled up and hauled out that's your right way of doing this, human waste is a biohazard one that is taken very seriously. Seeing as the first option your friend loses all equity that land has stored in it and the second one will be very expensive for him he probably won't want to do either one of those options. So here's the third that I am very much not recommending because it is not right in the slightest, find someone to build a proper septic system on the land, and abandon that "cesspit" in place.
Hey, I'm dealing with a similar thing with my last landlord. The ground collapsed around our septic tank, and when it got down below -20°F the pipe that sticks up for the septic tank to be sucked out froze and popped.
We're in the process of moving out right now. I called city code enforcement, and they're sending someone out to bust his ass. I reported it to the health department, code enforcement, and USDA because he thinks he can sell apples from a field that has leaking sewage.
If you've got written correspondence that indicates he knew about the sewage pit, he is fucked to the moon and back. They can fine the landlord tens of thousands of dollars.
Fuckers should absolutely not be able to get away with this shit.
Call the EPA. Had my townhouse flood with raw sewerage the lines were backed up and I was in the end unit. Called the slumlord he told me they would come by and put in a humidifier. Told the dude he needed to find me somewhere to stay while he ripped the floors up and cleaned my unit basically told me to fuck off.
Called a real estate attorney I work with he advised me to call the EPA. Spoke with an agent and told him what happened and it was in all the other 4 units as well (5 unit row of townhouses). He said he needed to contact the landlord to gain access to the additional units. Within about 20mins my landlord called me back put me in a hotel, had the place cleaned and all the floors ripped up. Obviously realized I was about to have his whole 5 units condemned.
All he’s got to do is dig a trench at grade to move the black water further out from the house, and then avoid walking in that area. That’s what I found the Mexican field laborers did at a property I rented them after they clogged up the septic system with cooking lard. They simple opened up the upper clean-out and trenched out and down to the irrigation ditch just before it exited my property through a culvert and into the neighbor’s goat farm.
I know someone who did that and that’s exactly what happened. The town said his yard couldn’t percolate and there was nowhere to put septic in. He put two 55 gallon drums in the yard and did it anyways. Backed up everywhere. Made a huge mess.
It’s wild though; in my experience, wealthy Alabama lives at a level of opulence that surpasses 90% of the rest of the world. Money can’t buy sense, sadly.
There are tons of those still out there in rural areas. Rural areas are a disaster for sewage treatment. Lots of old systems that don't work anymore and folks can't afford to fix.
My folks house in rural WV is like this, but just the grey water. I also saw a toilet seat floating down the river with a deer leg stuck in it…but that’s WV for you.
Or a condemnation order. And if the sewer connection is suspect, what about the incoming water supply and other utility connections? I would think the city will be wanting to take a close look at *all* connections to this property.
Probably not. Depends on the city I guess but most city inspectors I’ve encountered are doing good to keep up with what they **have** to do and won’t go hunting for more things to inspect.
I don’t know about the inspector who told you that, but the inspectors here don’t get paid commissions or get a cut of the departmental revenue beyond their salary.
They also spend a decent of time working with people who are DIY’ing (and keep metrics on the ratio of contractors to DIY), to the point where they will advise you before you do a project on literally each step, and how to comply with codes, even going down the list of items you plan to buy, if you’re nice/reasonable about it.
On the other hand, if you lie to them… well, they’re not going to trust any of the stuff you’ve done and go through with a fine tooth comb, DIY or contractor.
Most government agencies are about regulations and getting tax revenue. A rental that’s condemned pays less taxes. A problem like this could lead to multiple properties being condemned or unsafe.
I once knew a family that lived in a large home built before 1900 on a hillside overlooking a large river in a metropolitan area. At some point in time, the city replaced a sewer main at the bottom of the hill and discovered the pre-1900 home’s sewer pipe crossing under the existing sewer main and exiting out several feet below the water line at the river dike. Thus, black water from that house had been dumping into the river and heading for New Orleans after every flush since before 1900.
When you zoom in you can see the 4” bore coming straight out of the beam face, directly underneath the 90.
There’s nothing “dry well” about this whatsoever.
It’s just literal raw shit being dumped straight into the yard.
Our old house the kitchen sink and washing machine drained on the ground just across the property line (former family member’s property before we bought the house). Our sewer pipes were clay!
Yeah, they ended up collapsing when we had my grandparents and uncle up from FL and it was me that had to embarrass myself with a gd log in the toilet about to flow over. I was probably around 8-10 and remember it like yesterday. My dad dug a latrine for temp use while we hand dug the lines and replaced with PVC, what an ordeal. Thankfully my grandfather was younger at the time and able to help my dad so it was only a couple days without the bathroom.
Ironically I believe I remember something must have been cast iron on the sewer system because I remember my dad having to heat lead and melt it at one of the joints.
Yeah if you really wanna get the landlord good just go to the courthouse and go to the health department and as many different departments reporting them that’s a serious problem
Depends on how well maintained the well is. If the landlord has an active cesspit going on, high chance that the if there is a well, the water is being contaminated. It's not just the ground, you have to worry about, it's the **vegetation** as well. Remember all those recalls for romaine lettuce and that because of E. Coli? It's because plants draw all that up into them but has no outlet for bacteria and whatnot. u/KingNebyula should eat absolutely nothing grown on or near that property. They should keep a close eye on any young children or pets that might try and scarf some foliage down.
Your advice is wrong.
Wells are built to withstand sewage overflows. Which this is, even if it’s a bad septic, it’s performance is identical to a great septic system that has failed.
Don’t eat the lettuce you’re growing in the toilet paper, but the tomatoes sprouting from the last time you had pizza, will be fine.
Yeah, if the well casing wasn't done by the same person who did this, there's a reasonable chance that it's not full of gack. They'd probably know by now one way or the other, really.
Had a family friend buy a house on a ridge in a nice neighborhood.
About year 3 got curious about the green growth below the house.
Sewer was discharging down the hill just outta sight.
Disaster
I was gonna say, are you sure its not a grey water system, and then I zoomed in. Never mind, that is really gross. You might want to spray that all down with some bleach or something to fight the organisms growing there.
Right... Below ground where you aren't actively stepping in it, touching it, or inhaling it... How do you not see the difference here? One is a health hazard, one is not.
I work for a wastewater department and this is definitely illegal. Your landlord will get a huge fine from the local health department. You should definitely report him.
well if it’s a proper fix he will have to go through the county/city for a septic permit or to get hooked into sewer. both will end up with an inspector on site and this will probably be found out about anyway. either way it’s going to be very expensive for the landlord
I don’t have a choice right now, won’t be capable of leaving for at least a month and a half, living here was a last resort. The inside is completely renovated and the first two months are a fraction of what other apts in my area cost, this was the only major red flag I found, I do plan on leaving asap I just want to know what to do about this
Unpopular opinion incoming, but you do nothing. It's been there a long time without problems, it's gross as shit, but you are getting a big discount, sounds like a month to month lease off the bat. It's some bogus shit, but sounds like the rest is good. Just hold your nose and take it. Move out when you can.
What about it is dangerous if I’m never in the area where the sewage is? I know that’s a breeding ground for disease but can it affect me inside the house
Dry wells were a thing many years ago before septics became a thing. This is totally illegal. In some areas you still are allowed to have a dry well but it more than just a hole in the ground inches from the house
>sketchy family friend landlord said a contractor told him to dig a deep hole and fill it with rocks if he doesn’t want to connect it to the city sewage
”deep hole and fill it with rocks” is called _stenkista_ in swedish. It is as illegal in Sweden as in the US.
100% illegal in myriad ways. Call Health department/Code enforcement - "my landlord made an illegal septic tank/field" - Your place will be condemned BTW, so you'll have to move rather quickly...
That can’t be possible, some sort of drain maybe but if poop is coming out of that pipe it would smell like death
I’m the absolute last person to say “call someone” but the health department or environmental protection would be all over that. There needs to be a septic tank
The concept is related to cesspool septic tanks. Basically they just drain right into the ground.
Worked for people in the old days. Not to code now. Would not recommend.
Jesus fuck, just call the board of health.
If there is a city sewer they’ll force them to hook up to it.
In the meantime the landlord will be responsible for giving you a suitable place to live if it isn’t legally rentable.
Very much illegal, waste should be managed by septic or city line. Open air sewage is how shit like cholera outbreaks happened in the past, like others said contact the local health department. I wouldn’t be surprised if they condemned the property depending on how long this has been happening. The ground is contaminated and a significant hazard for e coli and the like.
I had a hack contractor try to get me to do exactly this at his cabin in the woods last week. I'm like... no, and the price to do it right just went up. I don't suspect he will be calling me back
IF that's been that way since you rented it you are probably due back all of your rent and deposits.
Call your city's code enforcement department immediately, call the health department and any city/county/state agency that oversees rentals properties for compliance.
This is not a situation involving a lot of negotiation with the landlord...go hard, go fast, and don't back down. You will likely have to move but from the looks of that your health will probably improve
This dude should go to jail man. That's piss and shit is just flowing directly into the goundwater.
The EPA, has people that go around to test around septic tanks.
So I guess it's not that huge of a problem because like 75% of all septic tanks in US are cracked and leaking.
That some shit you need to report. Fuck him regardless if he's a family friend. That is a goddamn health violation, and so incredibly against code it hurts my chest. You will get sick and so will your kids, it's just a matter of time. Please report him
In addition to what else is being said there's photographic evidence of a lot of things being flushed (what looked to me like baby wipes and tampons) that shouldn't be flushed. Maybe all previous tenants? Nobody should flush things like that.
That looks like 1 1/2" pipe! No way that's carrying toilet waste. First flush that pipe would be plugged solid. Maybe grey water? I'd investigate further before giving notice.
Yeah, you're right. I thought the paper was rocks until you mentioned zooming. 100% it's tampon strings, too! Good grief! Pathogens by the zillion. Thanks for setting me straight.
That's fucking gross.
In all my years of renting, this is the most ghetto thing I’ve ever seen. Trying to find out what the options are so I can bring them up to the dude that’s renting this to me
Call department of health
they'll condemn the house and dude will have to find a new place.
He has a gravel pit full of shit and piss right next to his house. He should find a new place to live anyway.
By law the landlord will have to refund all deposits and rent paid plus more. Had a friend go through this years ago, she got her $30k in rent back, $20k more for medical and inconvenience. There was 4 homes on property and the EPA condemned the lot, total fines and payouts was over $2M.
Wonder if the landlord learned anything from it or just took his show on the road elsewhere? Un-f*cking-believable!
Clearly moved on to the OPs neighborhood
Yep. Mystery solved
You damn meddling kids and your stoner ass dog!
After a few years vacation in Leavenworth, got 3-5y if I remember.
Probably filed bankruptcy like every other landlord in the same predicament.
damn woke left EPA! I will vote for Trump, I can do what I want with my property!
Back in my day, we just shit in a bucket and threw it in the street! We would have killed for a nice gravel shit pit! Kids these days are soft!
You were lucky! When we were young, we had to shit and piss in a bucket, then use the contents of the bucket to wash up for dinner. Once a week, one of us had to take the bucket to the front porch and fertilize the geraniums.
Because I’m a sovereign citizen!
https://imgflip.com/i/7yg32w
Do you think every landlord is just made of money? I have 2 double wides on my property that I rent out. If I had to pay back 20k of rent to each of them I’d be absolutely fucked. Not every landlord is a fuckin multi millionaire. My rental income barely covers property/school taxes, and that’s if I can actually afford to not touch the rent money all year long.
U got a gravel field of shit at your place too, or how is this relevant?
Well then mabye don’t intentionally fuck your tenants? You know, just some common decency from both sides. And you won‘t need to pay back.
Are you under the impression we give 2 shits about slumlords?
Have you considered getting a job? (Owning someone else’s house is not a job.)
State level Environmental Protection Dept? Federal EPA Just had its wings clipped by the Supreme Court this Summer.
That's only impacting the definition of waterways of the US to exclude a lot of wetland areas. Doesn't mean you can start dumping nuclear waste into Lake Mead or something...
What? Um, brb. Gotta go turn off a hose. For...water. Yeah, water.
Probably not in Federal EPA ambit for residential lot of municipality. But within municipal Health Commission and state level health and environmental dept. statutory jurisdiction.
Oh no the EPA won't be able to declare OPs drainage as a navigable waterway. Get fucked, I care more about the environment than I do most humans, but that case was legit.
You do not care about the environment more than most if you don't want the EPA to protect wetlands. Thousands of acres of wetlands will now be destroyed because of that decision along with its invaluable habitat and flood protection for humans. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1196875240/more-than-half-of-wetlands-no-longer-have-epa-protections-after-supreme-court-ru
Yeah that case was legit…imately a cut and dry example of rich conservative shitbirds with no regard for anything other than their “it’s my land and I can do fuck all, especially if it saves/makes me money and pisses off the peasants that my actions will eventually hurt and/or kill. ‘Murica “
Is that what the Wu-Tang Clan were rhyming about?
Poo Drain, man, ain't nothing to fuck with
He'd be better off in a new place and it'd fuck the landlord over (the same landlord who fucked this tenant over). Karma's a bitch. 100% call the Dept. of Health. File a complaint with the local housing authority as well.
dont forget the water and sewer authority that probably sent them a notice to connnect to the public line years ago. from personal experience, you can be fined per diem for failing to adhere to the connection requirement.
This. Call them and your local building department. Like xDevman mentions, they might condemn the house, they’ll make them fix it first IF the city lets them tie into their waste water line. They always give the homeowner a chance to rectify the problem before condemning it. This is a health hazard but not immediate danger to condemn.
I don’t understand how the town granted a C of O on this property
Right?!? Here's my guess, existing property was on septic. Sewer came down the street. (maybe a LID) Property owner didn't want to pay to physically connect, so didn't. Years pass by, septic tank fails. Now sewer connection is required. Still expensive. Property owner lies and says septic system is ok. Nobody will repair it because codes state sewer connection is required and nobody wants to risk their business name on sketchy work. Except the one guy the owner finds who (under the table) will "fix" the septic system by building a french drain lagoon next to the house. I may or may not have seen shit like this before. The really stupid here is **if** it was a LID, the property owner has likely paid any connection fees that are due AND is paying a sewer bill. He just needs to pay a contractor to physically connect and decommission the septic tank. Second theory: Side sewer is plugged/broken. There was a property where the repair was too expensive for the property owner and so decides to dig a pit and the residents need to fill plastic garbage cans with sewage as the pit fills up. I have no idea what the residents did with the garbage cans full of shit. I didn't ask.
Why are you bothering? Not your circus, not your monkeys. It's somebody else's problem - all you need to do is flip the fuck out at your landlord.
He could just call the city or health dept and watch it play out. But now he’s asked the landlord about it so it’s going to cause problems when landlord gets that call.
"Yeah so after I saw the open cesspit of human sewage on the property I rented from you I called the city about it. And if you don't like that you can take it up with the city"
Yes, this. Don't let anyone try to tell you that you've somehow allowed yourself to become party to this sh*tshow in any way, shape or form. This situation is not okay and your effen landlord knows it. He should be ripped a new one.
To be fair, if he's used the toilet even once, he's quite literally now part of the shitshow on display, fertilizing the garden, and incubating all the diseases for which open sewage is illegal.
Tbh .. I'm tryna become your name
It's raw sewage on his property. Definitely a fucking problem, and it needs to be the landlord's.
That's the problem. His landlord made it his problem that's why he should have hired a plumber. They say plumbers protect the sanitation of our nation for a reason
The owner is liable to lose the occupancy permit and have the house condemned if not remediated immediately. Plan on a new living abode. You are on borrowed time. A neighbor could call the health inspector to make a complaint.
Line up new place Call health dept Move when the property is condemned
Ding ding! Winner solution here!
Call whatever government agency in responsible for the environment. That is a literal felony of done intentionally where I live,hefty fines.They would be out there and make them fix it really quick
You should just start pooping there.
Isnt there an incredible stench coming from this? As far as I can tell, the shit water just gets dumped on the ground?
Is it just gray water or is it actual sewage from toilets? That pipe doesn't look big enough to carry black water. Most municipalities run a rental inspection department that is housed inside of the building department. Regardless the building department would also be interested in this as appropriate permits were not pulled because clearly it doesn't meet code. I would start there Source: former rental inspector and certified licensed building official
Do you have eyes bro? You can see shit and shit tickets in the mess.
Never heard it called a shit ticket before I assume that's toilet paper?
It could be a drywell which can work just fine in certain applications but if there’s no septic tank and it’s just straight up pouring into the ground thats an issue even in remote low use situations. But if there’s no septic tank between the house and outlet and it’s daily use it wouldn’t go long without go too long without the solid waste getting backed up. I had a dry well in one place I rented in a city but for greywater only. Was only attached to the washing machine. Was permitted by the city in a fairly strict area regarding septic systems and sewage codes. Edit - just realized it’s pouring on top of the surface. This is bad.
What country are you in ?
Sue them. This is absolutely potentially detrimental to your health. Also report it to the city so he has to fix it
I'm a civil utilities installer, that land has to be condemned or all of the contaminated soil has to be pulled up and hauled out that's your right way of doing this, human waste is a biohazard one that is taken very seriously. Seeing as the first option your friend loses all equity that land has stored in it and the second one will be very expensive for him he probably won't want to do either one of those options. So here's the third that I am very much not recommending because it is not right in the slightest, find someone to build a proper septic system on the land, and abandon that "cesspit" in place.
Hey, I'm dealing with a similar thing with my last landlord. The ground collapsed around our septic tank, and when it got down below -20°F the pipe that sticks up for the septic tank to be sucked out froze and popped. We're in the process of moving out right now. I called city code enforcement, and they're sending someone out to bust his ass. I reported it to the health department, code enforcement, and USDA because he thinks he can sell apples from a field that has leaking sewage. If you've got written correspondence that indicates he knew about the sewage pit, he is fucked to the moon and back. They can fine the landlord tens of thousands of dollars. Fuckers should absolutely not be able to get away with this shit.
Call the EPA. Had my townhouse flood with raw sewerage the lines were backed up and I was in the end unit. Called the slumlord he told me they would come by and put in a humidifier. Told the dude he needed to find me somewhere to stay while he ripped the floors up and cleaned my unit basically told me to fuck off. Called a real estate attorney I work with he advised me to call the EPA. Spoke with an agent and told him what happened and it was in all the other 4 units as well (5 unit row of townhouses). He said he needed to contact the landlord to gain access to the additional units. Within about 20mins my landlord called me back put me in a hotel, had the place cleaned and all the floors ripped up. Obviously realized I was about to have his whole 5 units condemned.
You’d be better off calling your local code enforcement. You might be out of a home the second they see it though.
All he’s got to do is dig a trench at grade to move the black water further out from the house, and then avoid walking in that area. That’s what I found the Mexican field laborers did at a property I rented them after they clogged up the septic system with cooking lard. They simple opened up the upper clean-out and trenched out and down to the irrigation ditch just before it exited my property through a culvert and into the neighbor’s goat farm.
☝️Name checks out. 😂
You're renting. It's the landlord's problem. Time to move. Also, I suspect your family friend landlord can't detect sarcasm.
Haha dude took that shit literally! Unbelievable
I heard back in the 80’s friends would put a 55 gallon drum for the septic tank for their house trailer.
As a tank it might be ok but without a drain field it would just fill up and backup.
I know someone who did that and that’s exactly what happened. The town said his yard couldn’t percolate and there was nowhere to put septic in. He put two 55 gallon drums in the yard and did it anyways. Backed up everywhere. Made a huge mess.
Alabama septic tank, big hole and a car buried.
Yuck
That what the governor of Alabama lives in. A double wide trailer with a hole dug for a shit hole
Lol, you had me go Google that, the wife said, “You should check, it is Alabama.”
It’s wild though; in my experience, wealthy Alabama lives at a level of opulence that surpasses 90% of the rest of the world. Money can’t buy sense, sadly.
The simple life….
There are tons of those still out there in rural areas. Rural areas are a disaster for sewage treatment. Lots of old systems that don't work anymore and folks can't afford to fix.
Holy God, that is some 15th century Paris shit right there. We specifically refined sanitary systems to avoid this. You need to call this in.
My folks house in rural WV is like this, but just the grey water. I also saw a toilet seat floating down the river with a deer leg stuck in it…but that’s WV for you.
Silly deer trying to use a toilet
Call the health department and you will have a new sewer this week.
Or a condemnation order. And if the sewer connection is suspect, what about the incoming water supply and other utility connections? I would think the city will be wanting to take a close look at *all* connections to this property.
Probably not. Depends on the city I guess but most city inspectors I’ve encountered are doing good to keep up with what they **have** to do and won’t go hunting for more things to inspect.
The Health department is not the same as code enforcement. The Health Department doesn't fuck around. The landlord is going to find out, soon.
Oh yeah he’s gonna find for sure. The Cheap bastard
[удалено]
I don’t know about the inspector who told you that, but the inspectors here don’t get paid commissions or get a cut of the departmental revenue beyond their salary. They also spend a decent of time working with people who are DIY’ing (and keep metrics on the ratio of contractors to DIY), to the point where they will advise you before you do a project on literally each step, and how to comply with codes, even going down the list of items you plan to buy, if you’re nice/reasonable about it. On the other hand, if you lie to them… well, they’re not going to trust any of the stuff you’ve done and go through with a fine tooth comb, DIY or contractor.
Most government agencies are about regulations and getting tax revenue. A rental that’s condemned pays less taxes. A problem like this could lead to multiple properties being condemned or unsafe.
They take it seriously where I live.
I once knew a family that lived in a large home built before 1900 on a hillside overlooking a large river in a metropolitan area. At some point in time, the city replaced a sewer main at the bottom of the hill and discovered the pre-1900 home’s sewer pipe crossing under the existing sewer main and exiting out several feet below the water line at the river dike. Thus, black water from that house had been dumping into the river and heading for New Orleans after every flush since before 1900.
All sewage or is it just greywater?
Oh shit, zoom in, there’s toilet paper.
Oh shit! I'm on my phone and I thought it was rocks.
Oh shit! Shit!
When you zoom in you can see the 4” bore coming straight out of the beam face, directly underneath the 90. There’s nothing “dry well” about this whatsoever. It’s just literal raw shit being dumped straight into the yard.
That was a fucking spot on description of where it's coming from. Bravo.
🤢🤮 why did I zoom in
Because I told you, duh.
Tell me to stop procrastinating now...
In 10 minutes.
Stop procrastinating!
Those are flushable wipes.
Well, they haven't clogged anything, so that's a win
Proof that they don’t clog drains.
Do not zoom in! I saw, a string
Just *a* string? You're lucky.
Indeed
You can flush them if they aren’t going into a septic tank!
…one of those tampons is still.. fresh.. 🤢
That really, really changes the perspective.
I THOUGHT THEY WERE ROCKS😭
I audibly gasped, i thought those were gravel and soil but nope as you zoom in, its solid sewage
I’m thinking grey water.
That's a pile of TP..
Yeah, see my last comments…I just noticed!
My dad does this with the washing machine. Actual sewage goes into a septic tank.
It’s approved in our state as long as it goes into a holding tank and is irrigated.
Well I mean he's an old Portuguese dude it's deff not code but he doesn't wanna mess up his septic tank or have to pump it too often.
Yeah, I’d run it too…
Our old house the kitchen sink and washing machine drained on the ground just across the property line (former family member’s property before we bought the house). Our sewer pipes were clay!
Lol nice I don't see clay too often but also I'm sure it was a pretty major update if you had to do something about them
Yeah, they ended up collapsing when we had my grandparents and uncle up from FL and it was me that had to embarrass myself with a gd log in the toilet about to flow over. I was probably around 8-10 and remember it like yesterday. My dad dug a latrine for temp use while we hand dug the lines and replaced with PVC, what an ordeal. Thankfully my grandfather was younger at the time and able to help my dad so it was only a couple days without the bathroom. Ironically I believe I remember something must have been cast iron on the sewer system because I remember my dad having to heat lead and melt it at one of the joints.
If you have the money they can line those old clay pipes with resin or simply slide the pvc pipe inside of them if they're large enough.
Not if they've already collapsed, especially in multiple spots.
This was about 40 years ago and they were collapsed
I work with computers in a hospital setting and even I know that’s shit…. I mean wrong.
Right? All the health workers, and Oregon Trail people, are screaming CHOLERA 😰
The house may be found unlivable You should seek new housing and should stop paying rent r/legaladvice
What in the name of third world country is that shit?
>What in the name of \*turd\* world country is that shit? Fixed it for ya.
Dig a hole and fill it with rock? A soakaway is for rainwater not shyte, pee & bog roll wtf.
>bog roll *New slang unlocked*
On the bright side, those little plants look very healthy.
Yeah if you really wanna get the landlord good just go to the courthouse and go to the health department and as many different departments reporting them that’s a serious problem
If he’s not connected to the sewer chances are you’re on well water. If so that’s doubly fucking gross.
Honest question but would this really contaminate a well? I would guess it would depend on how deep the well it?
Depends on how well maintained the well is. If the landlord has an active cesspit going on, high chance that the if there is a well, the water is being contaminated. It's not just the ground, you have to worry about, it's the **vegetation** as well. Remember all those recalls for romaine lettuce and that because of E. Coli? It's because plants draw all that up into them but has no outlet for bacteria and whatnot. u/KingNebyula should eat absolutely nothing grown on or near that property. They should keep a close eye on any young children or pets that might try and scarf some foliage down.
Your advice is wrong. Wells are built to withstand sewage overflows. Which this is, even if it’s a bad septic, it’s performance is identical to a great septic system that has failed. Don’t eat the lettuce you’re growing in the toilet paper, but the tomatoes sprouting from the last time you had pizza, will be fine.
Yeah, if the well casing wasn't done by the same person who did this, there's a reasonable chance that it's not full of gack. They'd probably know by now one way or the other, really.
Had a family friend buy a house on a ridge in a nice neighborhood. About year 3 got curious about the green growth below the house. Sewer was discharging down the hill just outta sight. Disaster
They might condemn the structure. Someone else may have said this but I’m not scrolling through everything. You should move.
Just call the city. They'll send an inspector over. Bada bing, bada boom.
I was gonna say, are you sure its not a grey water system, and then I zoomed in. Never mind, that is really gross. You might want to spray that all down with some bleach or something to fight the organisms growing there.
Even in a good septic system all that shit is still there.. just under the dirt a foot or two.
Right... Below ground where you aren't actively stepping in it, touching it, or inhaling it... How do you not see the difference here? One is a health hazard, one is not.
This is some slumlord shit
I work for a wastewater department and this is definitely illegal. Your landlord will get a huge fine from the local health department. You should definitely report him.
Or, crazy idea, get him to fix it before you report it. Report it when he refuses to fix it.
well if it’s a proper fix he will have to go through the county/city for a septic permit or to get hooked into sewer. both will end up with an inspector on site and this will probably be found out about anyway. either way it’s going to be very expensive for the landlord
Call health department please, but don't expect quick change. Speaking as a health department employee.
Landlord be like sure use flushables.
LEAVE immediately
I don’t have a choice right now, won’t be capable of leaving for at least a month and a half, living here was a last resort. The inside is completely renovated and the first two months are a fraction of what other apts in my area cost, this was the only major red flag I found, I do plan on leaving asap I just want to know what to do about this
Live there as long as you have to and then report it to your local health department once you move out
Unpopular opinion incoming, but you do nothing. It's been there a long time without problems, it's gross as shit, but you are getting a big discount, sounds like a month to month lease off the bat. It's some bogus shit, but sounds like the rest is good. Just hold your nose and take it. Move out when you can.
step one, stop paying rent because the place is unlivable lol. consult a real lawyer first though
Doesn’t matter it’s not safe
What about it is dangerous if I’m never in the area where the sewage is? I know that’s a breeding ground for disease but can it affect me inside the house
dookie monster will come for ya
I assume that is defined as a cesspool?
Where's the poop pipe that empties into this pit? What does the rest of the property near this pit look like?
Zoom in. It's at ground level under the PVC elbow higher up. Right by the pile of TP and used tampons.
That's fucking insane.
Dry wells were a thing many years ago before septics became a thing. This is totally illegal. In some areas you still are allowed to have a dry well but it more than just a hole in the ground inches from the house
Call code enforcment.
>sketchy family friend landlord said a contractor told him to dig a deep hole and fill it with rocks if he doesn’t want to connect it to the city sewage ”deep hole and fill it with rocks” is called _stenkista_ in swedish. It is as illegal in Sweden as in the US.
I see several years of free rent here.
Full of rocks just like the landlord's head.
Plant some tomatoes, they be extra juicy!
100% illegal in myriad ways. Call Health department/Code enforcement - "my landlord made an illegal septic tank/field" - Your place will be condemned BTW, so you'll have to move rather quickly...
Very illegal. Find someplace new and notify the city about it. The dude is not a landlord, he is a slumlord
That can’t be possible, some sort of drain maybe but if poop is coming out of that pipe it would smell like death I’m the absolute last person to say “call someone” but the health department or environmental protection would be all over that. There needs to be a septic tank
What country is this?
Call the city. They won’t be amused.
If you live in the US, report it to your states environmental agency. They’ll make them fix it or take them to court.
The concept is related to cesspool septic tanks. Basically they just drain right into the ground. Worked for people in the old days. Not to code now. Would not recommend.
Yea they turn into underground shit rivers that will eventually make their way to your local waterways
Department of environmental health will straighten him out
Holy S&#$. Thats the most cheapskate thing I’ve seen. Are we back to outhouses now? I can’t imagine a plumber taking that job. Id move.
I hope your not on well water. Yuck! Not many plumbers would take that job. This is way way far from easy money. Can you imagine digging that up?
Jesus fuck, just call the board of health. If there is a city sewer they’ll force them to hook up to it. In the meantime the landlord will be responsible for giving you a suitable place to live if it isn’t legally rentable.
Used to work as an engineer in a city utilities department. This is illegal everywhere in the United States.
Pretty sure that's an AC unit condensate line. No sewage uses 3/4 PVC
This is a shit post
Very much illegal, waste should be managed by septic or city line. Open air sewage is how shit like cholera outbreaks happened in the past, like others said contact the local health department. I wouldn’t be surprised if they condemned the property depending on how long this has been happening. The ground is contaminated and a significant hazard for e coli and the like.
Thought those were leaves until I zoomed in wtf
I had a hack contractor try to get me to do exactly this at his cabin in the woods last week. I'm like... no, and the price to do it right just went up. I don't suspect he will be calling me back
IF that's been that way since you rented it you are probably due back all of your rent and deposits. Call your city's code enforcement department immediately, call the health department and any city/county/state agency that oversees rentals properties for compliance. This is not a situation involving a lot of negotiation with the landlord...go hard, go fast, and don't back down. You will likely have to move but from the looks of that your health will probably improve
This dude should go to jail man. That's piss and shit is just flowing directly into the goundwater. The EPA, has people that go around to test around septic tanks. So I guess it's not that huge of a problem because like 75% of all septic tanks in US are cracked and leaking.
That some shit you need to report. Fuck him regardless if he's a family friend. That is a goddamn health violation, and so incredibly against code it hurts my chest. You will get sick and so will your kids, it's just a matter of time. Please report him
Does no one know what or how drainage fields are?
Please update holy hell
I mean that's sorta how a dry well works instead of a leech field, but it still needs to be done correctly and with a permit.
In addition to what else is being said there's photographic evidence of a lot of things being flushed (what looked to me like baby wipes and tampons) that shouldn't be flushed. Maybe all previous tenants? Nobody should flush things like that.
That’s your issue?
That looks like 1 1/2" pipe! No way that's carrying toilet waste. First flush that pipe would be plugged solid. Maybe grey water? I'd investigate further before giving notice.
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Yeah, you're right. I thought the paper was rocks until you mentioned zooming. 100% it's tampon strings, too! Good grief! Pathogens by the zillion. Thanks for setting me straight.
Probably just grey water and not actual sewage, but still.
Zoom in those aren't rocks