BOWMAN, S.C. — The Town of Bowman experienced another sewer system back up last Tuesday, but this time it was from cable wire.
Mayor Patsy Rhett says they believe this was done through manholes as the wire could not have been flushed down a toilet.
“The toilets in our system is for the disposal of human waste, not cable wire, not rags and cloths. It had to happen with someone evidently opening up one of our manholes and dump the wire," said Rhett. "They couldn’t be flushed down the commode like the other materials.”
Jonus Brunson works for the town’s water maintenance. He says when situations like this happen it is not an easy fix, especially because they have to outsource out of town to resolve the problem.
“We just had the pumps pulled and cleaned and maintenance probably about a month ago or two months ago and we usually don’t have to have it done that regular," said Brunson. "So when they put that wire down that caused us to have to call a company out pull the pumps out and then they have to work on them."
Mayor Rhett says the money used to fix back up like these is additional costs outside of the town’s budget.
“Each time we have to do this which is almost once a month it costs the town additional $900 to $1000 to repair," said Rhett. "This is monies that we have not allocated in our budget this is above and beyond and its because someone is sabotaging our system.”
Brunson asks residents to be mindful of what they are flushing as it can cause clogs.
“Cut back on the flushable wipes because all of them are not flushable," said Brunson. "If you could see the stuff that we pull out of it sometime it would amaze you because it looks like a bunch of rags put down the commode. If we would just go ahead and not put that stuff down there and just put that in the trash it would be a whole lot better.”
Mayor Rhett says if and when they find those responsible, they will have to pick up the bill for the damages.