The Black Lagoon

We haven't been home from our vacation for 2 days and something goes wrong in the house. I'm was getting all the laundry done from our trip and was just greeted with black water standing in part of our basement. The basement drain isn't working. In fact, I can pretty much swear the water was coming up from the drain....and from the bottom of an old toilet that hasn't been used in 7 years.

At first I thought the toilet was leaking along the bottom. I tried to turn off the water and couldn't budge the faucet. I took a vice grips to it and managed to turn it slightly. Either it is already off or it is permanently fused from non use. But there is no water in the inside of the bowl of the toilet so that means it is coming from under the ground and backing up out of the bottom of the toilet and floor drain.

It is black, like ink, and on the edge is movement. I looked closer and saw little worm-like things moving. Maggots? I can't smell anything, thank goodness, because I'm so miserably sick with a bad cold. I've been complaining about my cold but now I think my cold is a blessing!

I just phoned my husband at work to give him the news. I guess it could have been worse and happened while we were gone. At least I can move things to higher ground as the water is rising. Or I could have come home to a copper caper like what happened to my sister's house in Pittsburgh. Someone broke in (destroyed 2 antique doors to do it) and stripped all the copper pipes and even the water meter out of her house and left the water gushing into the basement. Luckily, her floor drain worked.