It was a bubbling sound that woke junior Laura Rose from her evening nap. Girls down the hall were talking about pipes bursting, so in a half-awake stupor, Rose checked her bathroom to see if she needed to worry. Sure enough, sewage was bubbling from the pipes beneath her sink.
Earlier this week, Niedfeldt Residence was unable to use water due to a bursting sewage pipe. Simpson Residence also had a sewage leak on the first floor, but the leak did not affect the entire building.
Because using water caused the sewage backup, Niedfeldt residents were instructed not to shower, use their sinks, or use their bathrooms until Hillsdale maintenance could fix the burst pipe. Some girls settled without a shower, others went to friends’ homes to avoid sleeping in the putrid smell.
Rose and her roommate were proactive on Sunday night, removing all items from the floor in the event that the sewage in the bathroom would leak into their room. Although nothing in Rose’s room was damaged, she is still Febreezing her room to eliminate any residual stench.
“The water in my bathroom was two inches deep,” Rose said. “There was some clear water, but there was also some brown stuff. It smelled really bad.”
Niedfeldt House Director Mary Summa said that water running on the upper floors caused the flooding in the lower floor. Initially, maintenance believed that it was a clogging problem that prompted the flooding, but the details are still unclear. So far, maintance believes that because the pipes were frozen, that dismantled the sewage system.
Head RA of Simpson and senior Garrett Holt said that the problems in his building did not have to do with weather but more to do with old plumbing.
“Everything that gets passed down from third and second floor come out on first floor,” he said. “A room on my hall had a sink backed up this week. Their shower started bubbling brown sludge.”
Simpson will not host students during summer sessions in order to perform thorough plumbing overhauls.
“The dorms are really old and they haven’t been repaired for a long time,” Summa said. “They should be a priority because they’re the dorms. That’s where people will live for, sometimes, four years. I think this winter proves that we need to put some money into the dorms.”
