Pittsburgh neighborhood plagued with sewage issues looking for answers

PITTSBURGH — “Nobody wants their kids to be dealing with that, but we can’t get nobody to do anything.”

Duane Ringgold said every time one of his children or wife uses the restroom, the waste comes up through the basement floor.

“The pump will get stopped up because of the poop and the toilet paper. So I’ve been having to scrape it off, so it can continue on getting the water,” Ringgold explained.

The pump sucks the water out of the basement into the backyard. Ringgold said that they have to buy candles and cleaning supplies to mask the smell.

“It smells bad. It smells like poop. You can’t get no better than that. Basically, what it smells like. You can see it,” he said.

The Ringgolds aren’t the only ones having issues. Channel 11 found that at least six homes on Race Street and Monticello all have sewage from the toilets coming out into the basement.

Channel 11 reached out to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) and received the following statement:

“The property owner is responsible for the sewer lateral which runs from PWSA’s sewer main to internal plumbing in a home or business. PWSA is responsible for the public sewer main in the street. If the problem is with the property owner’s sewer lateral, then it is their responsibility to repair. If the problem is with the sewer main, then it is PWSA’s responsibility. Our sewer crew will conduct an inspection of the sewer main and lateral serving this property tomorrow; this will determine the extent of the problem and needed repairs. We last cleared the sewer main in February.”

A spokesperson from PWSA additionally stated that crews will go out and see what the problems are first thing on Thursday.

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