Weekly Flush: Nashville, Tennessee, Homeowner Finds Collapsing Tank Under Driveway

Also in this week's septic-related news, videos surface showing a septic-tank explosion and the rescue of a child who fell through an unsecured lid

Weekly Flush: Nashville, Tennessee, Homeowner Finds Collapsing Tank Under Driveway

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A homeowner on the east side of Nashville, Tennessee, got a big surprise recently when he found an abandoned septic tank under his driveway.

Since buying the house in 2009, the man says there had always been a divot in the driveway, adding that his daughter liked to splash in it when she was younger. But recently, he was out on his porch when his son ran up to him saying there was a hole in the driveway.

After inspecting the hole, the homeowner saw an underground structure about 4 feet deep and 4 feet wide, all made out of brick. It was determined to be an old, abandoned septic tank from the first half of the 20th century.

The tank was located next to the man’s garage, and he told News Channel 5 his family was lucky. “First of all, that a ‘baby Jessica’ moment didn’t happen with my daughter, but secondly, that she didn’t just run over it and fall into it with the car.”


A couple shocking videos also surfaced this week. Even though both originated from across the globe, they’re good examples of the importance of safe and secure installations of septic tanks.

The first video you’ll have to visit the Daily Mail to watch, but it shows the moment a Chinese boy fell through a poorly installed septic tank lid and was saved from drowning by a passerby.

The second is some surveillance footage in east China’s Shandong province showing the moment a septic tank exploded after children had been lighting off firecrackers nearby. That video is embedded below:


In other news, parents in the village of Anmore, Vancouver, British Columbia, are voicing concerns over a septic tank leak that has gone unfixed for months at a local middle school’s field. The field was fenced off last fall when officials determined the puddles in the field contained human waste.

Apparently, the source of the waste is a neighboring 51-home development called Anmore Green Estates, lying just up a hill from the school.

There’s talk of either upgrading the development’s septic system or hooking it up to the municipal sewer, and the owners are pushing for the latter, likely because they could then develop the property currently occupied by the septic system.

In the meantime, it’s the schoolchildren who are dealing with the mess from indecisive adults in the community. Diane MacSporran, the chair of the school’s Parent Advisory Council, says the students are still walking through the waste and tracking it into the building. “I don’t know how long you can stay shocked, but that's sort of my first gut feeling is how can this still be going on?” she tells CBC News.



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