A man who spent a month on a trip of a lifetime around the Far East got a nasty surprise when he returned home and found his flat filled with sewage.
Steven Christopher was hit by the overwhelming smell as he opened his front door on Sunday.
He was expecting to find his flat exactly how he had left it, but littered inside was sewage, soggy toilet paper and even sanitary towels scattered throughout – including his kitchen, reports Wales Online.
The 44-year-old, who lives in Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, now claims it has left him homeless and his belongings have been ruined.
Pictures he has taken show the extent of the damage with his bath almost full to the brim with sewage. His flooring is barely visible because of the waste water and excrement.
He has been forced to stay in a hotel while the problem is fixed.
"I opened the door and it was just everywhere," Steven said.
"There was a smell – it was awful.
"There was sewage – there were sanitary towels.
"I didn’t know how long it had been like it.
"I’m homeless now."
Steven, who is studying Human Resources at university, spent a night with his sister but she has a little girl and so he cannot stay there full-time.
He has also met with the housing association that owns the property, Trivallis, who visited the property and have provided him with accommodation for three nights at a hotel while the problem gets rectified.
"They said it should take about three days," added Steven, who had been travelling in Hong Kong, China and the Philippines.
"I’ve got some things but everything is pretty much gone."
Steven said that when it happened previously all the sewage had come up through the toilet, but social landlord Trivallis said the incidents are not linked.
"It was about two years ago – it all came up through the toilet," he said.
The company said it has worked ‘around the clock’ to clean up the property.
A spokesman for Trivallis said: “Two years ago, we received a report of flooding in the property that, once investigated, was found to be caused by a blockage in the sewerage pipe.
“Across Wales, there are around 2,000 sewer blockages every month with the main cause being people putting hard-to-flush items like wet wipes or cotton buds and sanitary items down the toilet or rinsing fat, oil and food scrapings down the sink.
"In this instance, we helped to remove the blockage and cleared up the property.
"There was no faulty pipe.
“We received a report of flooding from Mr Christopher on Sunday, August 19 and arranged to send our team to the property to begin inspecting the flood and clear up the mess.
"However, we were not allowed access to the property by the customer until Monday afternoon.
“Since then, teams have worked around the clock to clear up the property and the supervisor in the area has inspected the pipe coming from Mr Christopher’s home with a camera.
"There is no initial evidence of a damaged pipe – we are waiting on the video footage from this investigation to be reviewed again to double check.
Read More
Top Stories from Mirror Online
-
Puppy and kitten farming to be BANNED
-
Loch Ness Monster spotted by girl, 12
-
Diana’s ex-bodyguard attacks Royals
-
Russia’s new ‘walking army robot’
“We have found evidence of three separate blockages along the main public line which is owned by Welsh Water who, we have been advised, would be responsible for clearing this.
"We are working with Welsh Water and Dyno-Rod to clear the blockages and look to develop an action plan for how we can prevent situations like this in the future.
“We are very sorry that Mr Christopher has had flooding in his home and have put him up in a hotel whilst this work continues to be carried out to fix the problem and clear away any mess.
“We would like to take this opportunity to remind people that putting items such as wet wipes or cotton buds down the toilet or rinsing fat, oil and food scrapings down the sink can have such serious consequences so please dispose of waste properly.”
Source: Read Full Article