Onich man feeling less than flush over return of toilet troubles

AN ONICH man is at his wits end after a blocked sewage pipe has left him unable to use his toilet properly.

Danny Jimack, from Caberfeidh, Onich, told the Lochaber

Times he has spent more than £1,000 trying to fix a problem that first started six years ago. He claims no- one will take responsibility for the current situation.

The 52-year- old said that in 2010 the sewage pipe under the A82, which runs from his house on one side of the road to the other side where the septic tank is, broke causing sewage to build up. This was finally fixed in 2011, but the problem has now returned.

Mr Jimack continued: ‘In February [2017] I noticed the sewage was starting to build up again. I had had my septic tank emptied last year so I knew it couldn’t be full, which is when alarm bells started ringing. I was thinking it must be a blockage in the pipe again.

‘I called Scottish Water because I knew the pipe would need cleared as it’s a health hazard. They came out but said that officially they are not meant to clear the pipe, just empty the tank – but I couldn’t even use my toilet.’

Mr Jimack, who is a coach driver earning around £8 an hour, paid a CCTV company to come with a camera and inspect the pipe to try and find out what was going on.

Images showed a huge hole in the pipe under the road.

Mr Jimack claims the volume of traffic on the A82 is causing gravel to fall through the hole and into the pipe causing another blockage.

Mr Jimack said: ‘ The CCTV footage found that from my side of the road to about the middle there were several cracks and a huge hole in the pipe where gravel from the road is falling in and has blocked the pipe.

‘The footage showed that where the pipe runs under my garden it is in much better condition because it doesn’t have heavy lorries pounding on it.

‘I have called BEAR Scotland, the council, Scottish Water, and my own insurance company, but no- one is taking responsibility for it. I really am at desperation stage now.

‘I don’t work my guts off to have to pay this amount of money to try and fix a problem I didn’t create.

‘I am using the toilet, but I can’t put toilet paper down in case it gets blocked again. I have bought a chemi-loo because I just know it’s going to happen again.’

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: ‘Scottish Water takes customer complaints extremely seriously. We are currently conducting an investigation into this matter and cannot comment further at this time.’

A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland said: ‘As the pipe underneath the A82 is not a trunk road asset, it is not the responsibility of BEAR Scotland.

‘Despite this, as the pipe runs beneath the trunk road we will contact Mr Jimack as we are interested to find out what is happening.’