00:00 After 50 years as a plumber, Robert Ashworth thought his own bathroom would be protected
00:07 against overflowing toilets.
00:10 I have sewage coming up out of here and it just doesn't stop.
00:15 But these days Robert and his family have to barricade the bathroom door.
00:19 It's just a filthy, stinking mess.
00:22 When it happens, sometimes for days at a time, they use the caravan toilet,
00:27 or go to a relative's house for a shower.
00:30 Apart from the health risk and the inconvenience, it's third world stuff.
00:37 Lithgow City Council says the problem is the result of outdated terracotta pipes
00:42 mixed with challenging geography and extreme weather.
00:45 It will spend almost $8 million upgrading the sewage system this year.
00:50 Bringing it up to modern standards could cost as much as $70 million.
00:55 We will be speaking to NSW Government about an ability to fund those works.
01:00 So you've got your floor waste over here, your grey water, so that will come up.
01:04 While the community waits for those works, businesses are suffering.
01:08 Michael Wagner's store has been flooded with raw sewage multiple times in the past six years.
01:15 In 2022, rain brought flood water, toilet paper and waste through the property.
01:21 It cost the business about $750,000 in cleaning and damaged stock.
01:27 It has led us to actually question what we're doing and whether we should stay open.
01:33 For now, they just have to be prepared.
01:36 Once we've got over the initial panic, we've actually got a pallet of sandbags
01:39 and black plastic on the go, so it's just a case of getting that out,
01:44 getting all the entrances sandbagged as best we can.
01:48 A stopgap defence against a deep-seated problem.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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