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RIVERDALE, Utah — A young couple says everyone is pointing the finger after a horrifying amount of sewage flooded their new home in Riverdale.
Some of it came from their neighbors.
"It's so surreal, you know, because we just moved in a month and a half ago," said Chase Brunner. "We haven't even made our second mortgage payment yet."
Brunner and his girlfriend, Brittani Roe, live at the end of a cul-de-sac not far from 300 West and Laker Way in Riverdale.
It started with a few inches of sewage that backed up into their shower on Friday, then it got worse. Now, three families can't flush their toilets or take showers.
"It formed a whole river, like of all the black water," Roe said. "You could see all the clumps just where the water was flowing."
The damage to their main bedroom in the basement is extensive and could amount to tens of thousands of dollars, Brunner said.
A disaster cleanup company cut out a lot of the carpet. He said the drywall also needs to be replaced, and clothes and couches reek of sewage.
The couple called a plumber and found out their home shares a lateral sewer line with two other homes.
"All three of us, technically, that is our private line that is clogged," Roe said.
Their home is the lowest. So their neighbors' sewage was backing up into their master suite.
Plumbers told them the clog is actually more than a hundred feet away, near a manhole in a backyard two doors down. Roe said that the fourth neighbor does not want their yard to be dug up. The neighbor would not talk to KSL-TV.
The couple says they have had trouble getting help from Riverdale city officials. They did not return our calls and emails.
For now, Brunner and Roe are using the restroom at a nearby gas station and taking showers at a family member's house. They're cash-strapped after buying in this hot housing market as they try to figure out repairs.
"We didn't want to, but we had drained our entire savings just for the down payment of this house," Roe said, "and so now with this … there's not much more we could put into it."
It formed a whole river, like of all the black water. You could see all the clumps just where the water was flowing.
–Brittani Roe
The couple said they have evidence that the previous homeowner knew about the sewer problems and did not disclose them. They have also checked with their homeowner's insurance, but they've been told they don't have any coverage for this issue since the clog is not located on their property.
A couple of crews were in the neighborhood Tuesday evening, but it's still unclear how this issue will be resolved and who will pay for it.
"No one will help us fix the clogged pipes, so at any moment, we can back up again," Roe said.
