Family inundated by sewage for weeks
TOILET troubles have been continually resurfacing for one social housing mum, who says her family has spent weeks inundated by human faeces.
Kirsty Patterson from Lenah Valley said her plumbing problems started weeks ago, but she’s still waiting for Housing Tasmania to resolve the sticky situation.
Photos shown to the Mercury reveal pools of human waste gathering in puddles in the backyard.
Several plumbers came around to her house to inspect the problem, however Ms Patterson said the pipes were still leaking raw sewage and the toilet would not flush.
In the meantime, Ms Patterson said that she and her five children had resorted to using the public toilet in the local park.
When the public toilet was closed, the family forced their
excrement down the toilet with a plunger and disposed of used toilet paper in the bin.
She said it had been a challenge trying to teach her children how to dispose of their used toilet paper, since four out of her five children have an intellectual disability.
Ms Patterson said most of the children’s toys were now unusable and were lying in a smelly heap in the backyard.
“It was all over the kids’ pool toys, over the blow-up pool, over their plushies, their gum boots, their pool toys,” Ms Patterson said.
“Whatever was in the backyard got hit.”
She said the stench was overpowering throughout the house, which has poor ventilation due to several jammed doors and windows that are unable to open properly.
Ms Patterson said she cleaned the outside as best she could, but that toilet paper pulp was still strewn on the driveway.
When some workmen came to clear up the rest, Ms Patterson said they told her that they were very familiar with that particular house.
A Housing Tasmania spokesman said they take all requests for maintenance “seriously” and would act
quickly to resolve them. “Housing Tasmania contractors have already responded to each of the plumbing issues reported by the tenant and visited the property earlier this week,” the spokesman said.
“To also ensure the additional complaint is examined, a camera inspection work order was made on September 1, 2021, to inspect and provide a report on the drains at the property.
“If any outstanding issues are in fact found by the camera inspection, we would then quickly act to rectify them.”
IT WAS ALL OVER THE KIDS’ POOL TOYS, OVER THE BLOW-UP POOL, OVER THEIR PLUSHIES, THEIR GUM BOOTS … KIRSTY PATTERSON