Edina: Toilet Geysers are Back, Keep the Lid Down & Check Your Traps!
It’s not a common topic for most towns, but if you’re a resident of Edina there’s a good chance you’ve heard a horror (and somewhat comical) story about a toilet geyser over the last several months. Yes, they’re real. And, they’re back – so keep your lids down folks. Though, full disclosure, Edina was littered with toilet geyser stories in December that, frankly, had this reporter wondering if some geysers were full of so much force they could have blown the lid off – literally.
One story in particular, which made the rounds in town, involved a public restroom and a geyser so strong – toilet water was said to have hit the ceiling.
Also, The Edina Sentinel fielded reports from businesses where employees were “afraid to sit on the pot.”
This is part of Edina’s ongoing massive sewer project. Work crews have returned and they’re in the process of cleaning out sewer lines around town.
Cleaning out the sewer lines causes pressure to build, which can sometimes cause two problems:
1) Suction in the line sucks the P-traps dry and sewer gas fills the area.
2) Pressure forces the line to expel what’s in the P-trap and causes things like a toilet geyser.
If you see crews working in your neighborhood to clean out the lines the City of Edina recommends keeping the toilet flushed and the lid down, which should minimize the mess, and checking P-traps regularly. If your P-traps are sucked dry just run a little water through the drain and they’ll fill back up. As little as two cups of water will fill a P-trap, so there’s no need to run a lot of water down each drain.
According to Mark Bross, Engineer for Kilinger and Associates, crews are expected to be in town cleaning the lines through the end of next week (March 25, 2016).
Keep an eye out for vehicles like the one in the photo accompanying this story. It’s used to clean out the lines.
