Lift Station Upgrade Sends Sewage Spewing Into Homes

Human waste spewed into Idaho homes last week — leaving a couple feet of sewage in their basements — as a result of backup in the system that arose during lift station upgrades.

“Some Idaho Falls homeowners spent the night cleaning up” the mess in their homes, KIFI/KIDK reported.

Officials from restoration companies working on the cleanup noted “that several homes had upwards of 2.5 feet of sewage in their basements,” the report said. One official called it “one of the worst jobs they've done,” the report said.

The thrust of the problem: A backup pump stopped functioning when workers were making upgrades on a lift station. The result was that sewage spewed into nine separate homes, the report said. The city deployed a worker to check the pump every two hours until it started working again, the Associated Press reported.

“At least five restoration crews were counted on Newman Drive working to clean up” homes, KIFI/KIDK reported.

For homeowners, the incident created a mess. Homeowner Chuck Novak told KIFI/KIDK: "We had some flooding in the carpet and it got into the sheet rock.”

Idaho Falls describes its wastewater processes in a document on its website. “The Wastewater Treatment Plant has a laboratory that tests for pollutants to determine the efficiency of the operation and the protection of the Snake River,” the document explains.

The U.S. EPA is clear on the health risks of raw sewage.

“Raw sewage contains disease-causing pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, worms, and protozoa. Diseases resulting from enteric pathogens range from stomach flu and upper respiratory infections to potentially life-threatening illnesses such as cholera, dysentery, Hepatitis B, and cryptosporidiosis,” the agency says.

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