Family are left ‘traumatised’ after entire ground floor of their home was flooded with raw sewage after it poured out of their toilet
- Peter Ward said filthy brown water started pouring out into his home on July 4
- The house in Hethe, Oxfordshire, is only 100 yards from sewage pumping station
A family have been left ‘traumatised’ after the entire ground floor of their home was flooded – with raw sewage.
Peter Ward, 57, said filthy brown water started pouring out into his family’s home at 9.30pm on July 4.
The family home in Hethe, Oxfordshire, where Peter has lived with his wife and 12-year-old son for over ten years, is only 100 yards from a sewage pumping station.
When a ball became stuck in the pump assembly at the nearby pumping station, the sewage started gushing out of the ground floor toilet in Mr Ward’s home in the evening.
He said the smell became unbearable and many of their possessions were ruined and beyond repair.
Peter Ward, 57, said filthy brown water started pouring out into his family’s home at 9.30pm on July 4
The family home in Hethe, Oxfordshire, where Peter has lived with his wife and 12-year-old son for over ten years, is only 100 yards from a sewage pumping station. When a ball became stuck in the pump assembly at the sewage pumping station, the sewage started gushing out of the ground floor toilet in Mr Ward’s home in the evening
He said: ‘Our dog, Tottie, kept running through the sewage so we had to keep picking her up and washing her in the sink’
He added: ‘It was a very distressing experience. The raw sewage was gushing out at such a fast rate, that our ground floor quickly became flooded with brown and dirty water.
‘Our dog, Tottie, kept running through the sewage so we had to keep picking her up and washing her in the sink.’
The sewage flooded the house thick and fast for 10 minutes and Peter managed to get through to Anglian Water at 10.30pm.
The water company offered to pay for the family to sleep in a hotel overnight due to the stench of faeces.
But Peter was unable to find an available hotel as everywhere was booked up due to the F1 Grand Prix taking place at Silverstone that same weekend.
Anglian Water sent workers to disinfect the house at 5pm the next day (July 5) and it then smelt of disinfectant for four days.
Peter added: ‘We were forced to stay in the house overnight. We could smell the sewage throughout the night.
The sewage flooded the house thick and fast for 10 minutes and Peter managed to get through to Anglian Water at 10.30pm
He said: ‘It was like poison. I asked Anglian water for £5,000 compensation for the distress, inconvenience, suffering and damage to our possessions that came into contact with the sewage but they have refused’
‘It was like poison. I asked Anglian water for £5,000 compensation for the distress, inconvenience, suffering and damage to our possessions that came into contact with the sewage but they have refused.’
He added: ‘My housing insurance company came out quickly and I was immediately told my premium was going to go up.
‘I’m going to pay the price for something which was not in my control.
‘I’ve been given no guarantees it won’t happen again. Our house was the first line of defence and took the brunt of it.
‘If the pressure was any worse, the sewage would have filled our neighbours’ houses.’
On July 18, Mr Ward was sent an email which denied any liability for the damage which the sewage deluge inflicted.
Mr Ward was told: ‘We understand your allegations are that your property has suffered waste water flooding due to the pumps at the local pumping station failing and that caused sewage to back up and enter your property.
Mr Ward said: ‘Our house was the first line of defence and took the brunt of it. ‘If the pressure was any worse, the sewage would have filled our neighbours’ houses’
Anglian Water said: ‘In this case, upon investigation it was found that the sewer flooding had been caused by a third-party blockage rather than a failure of our network and therefore are not responsible.’
‘Our investigation confirms that the pumps at the nearby pumping station were indeed interrupted and stopped working.
‘The cause of this failure, however, is due to a ball becoming stuck in the pump assembly which prevented it from functioning correctly.’
Anglian Water said: ‘We take all reports of flooding extremely seriously and do sympathise with the customer who has been affected.
‘In this case, upon investigation it was found that the sewer flooding had been caused by a third-party blockage rather than a failure of our network and therefore are not responsible.
‘As a gesture of goodwill, we offered to provide alternate accommodation the night it was reported to us and our cleaning contractor, Dryright, carried out a clean-up.
‘We continue to urge the customer to contact their home insurance company to discuss any compensation enquiry related to the flooding.’
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