Nobody wants to deal with the sight — or worse yet, smell — of having sewage in their yard. However, it can happen to anyone. If you've recently noticed that your yard looks saturated and has a foul smell, chances are it's due to sewage. Here's what you should know and do about this problem.

Stop Using Plumbing

If at all possible, stop using the toilet in your home immediately, and keep water and sink usage to a minimum. At this point, anything that's going down the drain from your home is leaking out of your sewer line and into your yard. Unfortunately, if it's gotten to the point where it's noticeable on the surface that you have a sewage leak, this has been going on for a long time. Stopping using your plumbing now won't make the problem go away, but it will help to prevent it from getting even worse.

Stay Clear of the Area

Sewage is extremely dangerous. Everything from rotten food to fecal matter goes down the average household drains and toilets, so there's nothing safe about what's seeping out of your yard right now. Although it's unpleasant and embarrassing to know that your yard is having this problem, there's not much you can do about it yourself. Instead, you need to contact a sewer line professional for help.

Sewer Line Replacement

This probably won't fill you with joy, but if you're having this problem, you're likely going to need to have your sewer line replaced.

Issues with sewage appearing in yards typically never happen unless something has gone critically wrong with the sewer line. Whether it's a crack, break, or erosion of the pipe, your sewer line is no longer carrying what goes down the drain directly to the public sewer under the street. This can happen due to simple age, earth movement (like earthquakes), or even tree roots infiltrating the pipe. Sadly, once a pipe is this damaged, a repair is usually impossible and the best and only option is to replace the entire length of the pipe.

Before doing anything else, your plumber or sewer line professional will inspect the line from the inside out using a camera. This will let them locate the problem, and then they can show it to you. Unless it's a minor crack, you'll need to have the sewer line replaced.

This can be done either by digging up your yard, removing the old pipe, and laying down a new one, or by performing a trenchless pipe replacement that keeps disturbing your yard to a minimum. Depending on the length of the pipe and the condition the ground is in, the replacement may take a few days to complete. During this time, the plumbing in your home will be unusable, so you'll need to take action to accommodate your family's needs.

The good news here is that once your sewer line is replaced, it's unlikely to have this problem again for many decades. Consider it an investment for your family's future, and soon all of this will be behind you. Contact a company that offers sewer lateral replacement services to learn more.

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