Water running through the basement of a Davenport home
DAVENPORT, Iowa -
Tonight a Davenport woman is holding her breath, not just because she's afraid of what the rain will do to her basement, but because the stench from the rising water. 8 On Your Side Reporter Chris Williams looked into her case.
Two pipes fire out water every couple of minutes from the sidewalk in the 2800 block of Brady Street. They're connected to two sump pumps in the basement of a home and the water sometimes stinks like sewage. Somehow water is getting into the basement. Where it's coming from is not only a concern for the homeowner, now the city wants to know too.
"We're having heart attacks every time it rains. We're just so scared we're gonna lose everything again", said Kitty James.
She's lived at this old home 25 years but the problems only started during last summer's heavy rain storm. She shot video after 3 feet of water rushed in. It took a while for it to recede and, when it did, the damage was obvious.
"The floor you're standing on", Kitty explained while pointing to our photographer, "was buckled so bad you couldn't walk across without it tipping in different places."
She received help from FEMA and hired a contractor to replace the concrete floor and waterproof the basement. At Christmas time, water began seeping in again but that was nothing compared to what started earlier this month. Water rushed through the wall her contractor patched. Then, last night, they uncovered the top of a cast iron pipe. Looking carefully you can see a current of water slowly coming in.
We contacted the interim City Public Works Director and Senior Plumbing Inspector. They say crews had looked into the issue, but they couldn't tell where this water was coming from. Tests show it's neither clean nor completely sewer water. Dye tests in the home and in the sewer up the road failed to pinpoint an origin. After we met with them today they returned to Kitty's place and say the pipe seems to be connected to a sewer abandoned by the city a century ago, but how the water is getting into it is a mystery as is whether this is the source of all of this water.
"I'm hoping they'll come in and fix the whole darn thing so that it doesn't happen again", Kitty said. "I don't want to go through this again."
Late this afternoon we spoke with the interim Public Works Director again who says they now believe that pipe is a 24 inch city sewer line abandoned about 1920. It was not showing up on city maps. They don't know whether that's the source of the water and if there's a larger problem. Tomorrow they're taking an unusual step of bringing in a plumber with a camera, at the city's expense, who can give them a better idea of where kitty's sewer runs and, maybe, what's going on with this newly uncovered pipe. We'll let you know what they find.
Two pipes fire out water every couple of minutes from the sidewalk in the 2800 block of Brady Street. They're connected to two sump pumps in the basement of a home and the water sometimes stinks like sewage. Somehow water is getting into the basement. Where it's coming from is not only a concern for the homeowner, now the city wants to know too.
"We're having heart attacks every time it rains. We're just so scared we're gonna lose everything again", said Kitty James.
She's lived at this old home 25 years but the problems only started during last summer's heavy rain storm. She shot video after 3 feet of water rushed in. It took a while for it to recede and, when it did, the damage was obvious.
"The floor you're standing on", Kitty explained while pointing to our photographer, "was buckled so bad you couldn't walk across without it tipping in different places."
She received help from FEMA and hired a contractor to replace the concrete floor and waterproof the basement. At Christmas time, water began seeping in again but that was nothing compared to what started earlier this month. Water rushed through the wall her contractor patched. Then, last night, they uncovered the top of a cast iron pipe. Looking carefully you can see a current of water slowly coming in.
We contacted the interim City Public Works Director and Senior Plumbing Inspector. They say crews had looked into the issue, but they couldn't tell where this water was coming from. Tests show it's neither clean nor completely sewer water. Dye tests in the home and in the sewer up the road failed to pinpoint an origin. After we met with them today they returned to Kitty's place and say the pipe seems to be connected to a sewer abandoned by the city a century ago, but how the water is getting into it is a mystery as is whether this is the source of all of this water.
"I'm hoping they'll come in and fix the whole darn thing so that it doesn't happen again", Kitty said. "I don't want to go through this again."
Late this afternoon we spoke with the interim Public Works Director again who says they now believe that pipe is a 24 inch city sewer line abandoned about 1920. It was not showing up on city maps. They don't know whether that's the source of the water and if there's a larger problem. Tomorrow they're taking an unusual step of bringing in a plumber with a camera, at the city's expense, who can give them a better idea of where kitty's sewer runs and, maybe, what's going on with this newly uncovered pipe. We'll let you know what they find.
