Sewer Woes Flow Beyond Elmhurst's Corporate Limits

Adam Gasiorek lived with his parents in the Crown Estates neighborhood near Grand Avenue and York Road for 17 years before moving into his own home three doors down last fall.

For those 17 years, flooding was common.

"Whenever they flooded it was basically that the sump pump failed," he said. "It's never been a sewer issue, not to my knowledge."

In April, Gasiorek got his first taste of flooding in his new home. He called Illinois American Water, which maintains the sewers in his unincorporated neighborhood in north Elmhurst.

"They basically told me that its my fault I backed up because I had a clog in my sewer line," Gasiorek said.

Gasiorek unclogged his line but flooded again, along with a few neighbors, during heavy storms in July. What's transpired since is a battle similar to what Elmhurst residents have been fighting since last summer, but for Gasiorek and his neighbors, the foe is different. Instead of the government, they're facing a private business.

"I grew up around here; I normally had issues for a long time, and American Water is seemingly out here every month," Gasiorek said. "It’s the fact that American water told me 'it's your problem' that really set me off. ... How dare you say that while I’m paying your service."

Chris Bacon, spokesman for Illinois American Water, said the company received no wet-weather backup complaints from the Crown Estates neighborhood in July. He said the company also offers no-interest loans and grants for plumbing upgrades.

"If customers ever do have any issues, we strongly urge them to contact us immediately so we can resolve the problem," Bacon said via e-mail.

Gasiorek, who is saving money for his upcoming wedding, was livid when told he had to invest $8,000 for a backflow valve in an attempt to take care of his problem.

"They’re telling me I should spend $8,000 on something that should not be happening in the first place," he said.

But Gasiorek also accepts it may be his only option, because he wants to remodel his basement.

"I'm gonna have to (buy the valve)," he said.

"(Remodeling) that basement would be like $12,000 just for electricity, drywall—just the basics, not the furnishings. ... And to have that flood in poop water? Come on, I have to do something."

And as the groom-to-be saves for his wedding, remodeling the basement may have to wait.

"Doesn't look like it's in the cards this year," he said.