That's Not Pudding

We take our physical surroundings for granted. Lights come on with the flip of a switch; water comes out when the handle is moved. Waste water disappears down a drain.

What happens when those things do not work? Fluorescent light systems have tubes and ballasts -- either or both can fail. Failed water faucets leak; but what has gone wrong if no water emerges?

Today the library staff learned about non-draining drains. A sink in the staff room, a staff restroom, and the custodian's mop sink all sit at the end of a long drain line that runs under the floor of the library's work area and finally joins the drains from the public restrooms near the south wall. In the years since the library was built that drain line had apparently filled with sludge comprised of soap scum, mop bucket dregs, and other substances that go into drains along with the water.

Running a "sewer cleaner" through it just stirred the sludge without making it liquid enough to drain away.

Trying to "jet flush" the line from a manhole in the city's sewer system failed when the jet slid into a different branch of the building's drains.

At that point I was called away to a previously scheduled meeting. When I returned to the library in early evening, the workers had left for the day, and the plumbing parts were still partially disassembled.