Color Before Digging
Sewer lines are marked green. Yellow signifies gas, and blue
of course, water. I’ve seen blue plumbing trucks and green ones too. No wonder
those PSE&G trucks are yellow and white.
Fall leaves decorated the sidewalk as I learned that
colors are used to communicate for reasons other than a flag on sports fields
and traffic signs and signals. But when Father Time allows Mother Earth to
reclaim human markers, the sage advice Call
Before Digging should flash in neon hues.
It didn’t.
The result: Learning enough about the sewage system in my
90-year-old house to satisfy any question a curious potty-training grandchild
may ask.
More words of wisdom: “I don’t think this is a good place to
plant the pine. Your plumbing might be under here.”
My response: “It’ll be okay. It’s just a seedling.”
Later: “You weren’t supposed to let the tree get so big.”
Later than that: Massive evergreen arms dripping with needles
reached over our house in a hug. Living inside that embrace distracted me from
realizing roots, hidden beneath, invaded our sewer line. The water main and sewage
cleanout at the curb had disappeared below grass and clay soil so deep that
even the plumbing companies couldn’t tell they were there until excavation, and
after using a divining rod that looked like a metal detector. The green
and blue markings added contrast to the townships’ yellow spry painted gas alerts.
What I also learned, $5,000 later:
·
Cast iron and terra cotta sewer pipes were set underground
in sections 90 years ago.
·
Sewer pipes are now made of a heavy-duty PVC
material cut to length so that tree roots can’t grow through seams.
·
You can see inside your sewer line using a
lighted camera snake with a cool video screen.
·
Large plumbing companies can come out right away
when you call them, even at 11:45 pm, so you can flush without being sorry.
·
Small plumbing companies are able to charge half
of what a large company has to.
·
Some companies return for the tool they left
behind, and some don’t.
Now, tree-less and color-coded, the front of our house looks
like it did when we bought it almost 30 year ago. The freshly seeded mound of
brown that used to be our front lawn most vividly reminds me to request utility
coloring before planting.
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