Life of Wry

Check this out:

This is what the plumbers finally found, after a couple days of rooting around (as it were) in our sewer pipes. It’s a dense mass of roots and sludge that had, over the years, swelled to fully fill the dimensions of the pipe that was supposed to be carrying out all our household waste. Somewhat unbeknownst to us, until it was very beknownst, our flow was seriously compromised. 

It turns out that where there is a seam or a joint in a pipe, it is possible for a root–even the tiniest of roots–to work its way inside, and once there, fed by a constant water supply (and who knows what other nutrients), can grow.  I’m not sure how anything got past this, but it does explain why we finally got to the system failure point.  

Here’s another shot with my garden boot (former sailing boot) for scale:

It was a significant and unique enough specimen that Troy the plumber sent a photo to his boss and his boss asked him to bring it into the shop so they could all get a first hand look.  

Yay us.

So, with that, our pipe’s been cleared. We’d already decided to replace the 60-year-old stuff with new pipes, so that happened today pretty quickly. Inspectors from two city departments have to approve the installation, and as long as there is sufficient downhill slope, this should happen within the next few days.   Meanwhile we can now use our showers, appliances and toilets normally.  We thought we might have to rent an outhouse for tomorrow night’s dinner party (ha), but now guests can pee and poop and wash up afterward to their hearts’ content.  

Next week, the trenches can be filled, then the task of replanting all the plants can commence.