Lithgow toilets overflow with sewage in heavy rain as town's waste system can't meet demand
Robert Ashworth's teenage daughters will travel to a relative's house to use the bathroom when his own floods with raw sewage. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
When Robert Ashworth knows rain is coming, he barricades the bathroom of his Lithgow home, fearing his toilet will overflow with the town's raw sewage.
Key points:
- Raw sewage is backing up toilets and flooding bathrooms in some Lithgow homes during heavy rain
- The council says geography, "ancient" infrastructure and extreme weather contribute to the problem
- It estimates a complete upgrade of the sewage system could cost $70 million
"You get people's faeces and toilet paper and horrible, smelly brown water through the house," Mr Ashworth said.
"It's just a filthy, stinking mess."
The plumber of 50 years is one of many residents of the town at the foot of the NSW Blue Mountains experiencing a problem the local council says is caused by "very ancient" wastewater infrastructure.
Mr Ashworth said when heavy rain falls, his toilet fills with wastewater which often overflows and "just keeps running out of the top".
Robert Ashworth says his Lithgow toilet can back up with the town's sewage for days at a time. (Supplied: Robert Ashworth)
When it happens — sometimes for days at a time — he and his family use the toilet in their caravan, or travel to a relative's house for a shower.
"Nobody in Lithgow should accept it, no-one. Apart from the health risk and the inconvenience, it's Third World stuff," he said.
At another Lithgow business, excrement seeps into a shower recess and sink after heavy rain. (Supplied: Kevin MacMason)
Wet weather brings 'panic'
Around the corner, the owner of Lithgow Valley Outdoor Specialists prepares for a downpour in a different way.
"Once we've got over the initial panic, then we've got a pallet of sandbags and black plastic on the go," Michael Wagner said.
"So it's just a case of getting that out and bagging up."
Michael Wagner's store flooded with storm water and raw sewage in the rains of 2022. (Supplied: Michael Wagner)
In the six years his business has been open, Mr Wagner's property has flooded with raw sewage about four times.
"On the really bad rains you can go in and you can actually see it like a volcano out of the toilet," he said.
He said heavy rain in 2022 brought thigh-high floodwater, toilet paper and faeces through the property.
Mr Wagner estimates that event alone cost him about $750,000 in clean-up and losses.
"It's been devastating on more than one occasion, it has led us to actually question what we're doing, and whether we should stay open," he said.
'Very ancient' system
Mr Ashworth and the outdoor shop are in an area known as Extension Estate, which the Lithgow City Council described as the lowest and last point that the area's sewage travels through before it reaches the treatment plant.
That facility can handle up to 9.5ML of flow on wet weather days — but in recent years' downpours, it has received up to 23ML of wastewater per day.
"The analogy is like a highway where all the congested roads lead in, and at those points you'll get a choke point, and that's what we're experiencing here," council's general manager, Craig Butler, said.
The problem is ocurring in Extension Estate, Lithgow. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
That wastewater travels through what he called "very ancient" infrastructure made from old materials like terracotta.
He acknowledged the outcome of that overwhelmed system did not meet community expectations.
"We are working tirelessly and within our capacity to upgrade our sewerage systems as rapidly as possible," he said.
"But it will be a multi-year project, [which] will require investment from other levels of government."
The council is spending $7.7 million this financial year upgrading the infrastructure, and will conduct a review into bringing the whole system up to modern standards.
Michael Wagner has a pallet of sandbags to try and keep out the sewage and water. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
But he said that would likely cost in the realm of $70 million.
"Clearly Lithgow council and this community won't be able to bear that level of investment ... we will be speaking to the NSW government about an ability to fund those works," Mr Butler said.
Mr Ashworth said after decades of watching the problem linger, he hopes to finally see change.
"Something's got to be done, you know, it can't go on — this is 2024."
Editor’s note 19/1: This article has been amended to generalise comparisons of the Lithgow system to other cities.