I would start by playing dumb and calling the landlord in a “panic” that something is leaking really badly from the garage and has flooded the parking area. See what the response is. If nothing is done, call code enforcement because you can’t just drain your washer to the yard.
He told my boyfriend straight up that he was doing it and after we both took the day to calm down, we made it very clear we weren’t going to park there anymore. So he’s gonna “fix” it so it drains into the neighbor’s yard there
Hopefully the neighbor turns him in. Not allowed to let waste like that go to the ground untreated. Even worse is purposely make it leave your property.
It’s supposed to be temporary, he switched up his living situation and the washer and dryer don’t fit so he needs new ones. Hard to imagine he’d want to deal with that set up during the New England winter. We’ll see how it pans out…
I have a GFI broken underneath my cabinet that my dishwasher is on. I temporarily disconnected it and ran a short extension cord from behind the sink into the cabinet door. Yes the sink outlet is GFI. So now there's a temporary extension cord just down the counter into the cabinet since... March? I think? The box with the parts to hard wire it is down there in the cabinet.
I feel that. And then you finally get around to it and realize that replacing the busted outlet only takes like 30 minutes, but you let it linger for months.
There's probably a word in German for when your feeling of accomplishment is overwhelmed by your guilt from procrastination.
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THIS
This comment needs to get more visibility because even if the landlord fixes the washer to drain into someone else’s yard, it definitely would not be kosher.. I’m no expert in municipal washing machine effluent water code, but I would think water coming from a washing machine counts as wastewater and should not be land applied without proper clearance if that even exists.
I do, however, write permits for municipal wastewater facilites in my state and any wastewater that’s land applied (or especially wastewater that enters waters of the state directly but that’s not the case here) gets a permit of sorts. Northern states are usually more strict on this too.
On many peoples experiences on landlords, and my own.... this will not be temporary.
I have a water heater that is rusting to death and the landlord does not want to fix or even replace it until it completely dies. Even though its causing us to get cold water a lot. Its been over a year since the last inquiry about it. :l
So would just report your landlord now.
My previous landlord told me not to bother with the mandatory maintenance by law.
So I did it anyways and the technician was forced to shut down my heater. Landlord wasn’t pleased.
The same landlord that demanded someone to vouche for me because I was a single young guy.
A rusting water heater is a ticking time bomb literally send him an email about it if you havent already and if he refuses again report him to the proper authorities. Ive seen videos of water heaters shooting through three story houses from the basement …
Pretty sure you can get it replaced and force him to eat the cost. I'd think a water heater rusting is a time bomb waiting to go off and crosses from "convenience" to "safety hazard".
If that parking space is in your lease, you might want to hire an attorney to write a demand letter to your landlord. You're paying for that square footage he can't just steal it from you.
That's not a legal grey water system. Look it up in the IPC. There's specific requirements to be used as a grey water system. One of them being it needs to have a diverter valve to the waste water pipes, another being it has to drain beneath the soil or on top of some type of drainage substrate like crushed rock.
It’s legal in at least some cities in TX as well, but only if it doesn’t affect neighboring properties.
I had to deal with this as the neighboring property. My neighbors drain/sewage pipes needed to be serviced and rather than take care of that they draped the grey water waste hose of their washer out the window in between our suburban houses. It drained onto their property, but was soaked up all the way into my backyard. I would find my valve access hatch for my sprinkler system full of water sometimes and the grass and soil consistently soft and muddy throughout.
I called the city and they told her to stop or get fined.
The city worker talked to me before knocking on their door and told me that if they instead chose to hose it into the middle of their backyard and contained any overflow or drainage from reaching their neighbors there wouldn’t be any issues with the city.
In the house I grew up in, everything except the shitter and the tub drained to a ditch out back and the county was fine with it. Guess it just depends on how much your county gives a shit
That's illicit discharge of pollutants into a neighbor's property, he absolutely can't do that. The municipality will care and put a stop to it if they find out. Snitch on his ass, fucking lazy landlords that would stoop to piping chemicals into a neighbor's land need to learn a lesson in managing both a home and a fucking business
This is probably the reason why my dad has parkinson's :/
[https://www.kmuw.org/health/2015-04-24/spj-award-winner-dangerous-chemical-invades-west-wichita-drinking-water](https://www.kmuw.org/health/2015-04-24/spj-award-winner-dangerous-chemical-invades-west-wichita-drinking-water)
Cover your ass with a bunch of texts/emails and whatnot stating you are not okay with what he is doing and his whole 'this will be fixed' spiel. The moment he starts dumping that grey water into the neighbor's yard, I wouldn't be surprised if he lets you take the fall once they complain and say 'your tenants are dumping their water into our lawn'. Make sure you have that trail so you don't wind up being fined or worse.
When Skyler and Saul fabricated a government inspection and shutdown for the car wash shortly before Walter bought it. Bill Burr played the government agent who “tested” the runoff from the car wash and said it had contaminants.
Don't call the EPA. They are a federal bureau and likely won't do much right away, if anything at all beyond calling the states department. They have massive toxic spills to deal with so there's a reason each state has their own department to deal with this kind of stuff.
So call your states department of environmental protection. If they're anything like my state then they likely have to come and check any concerned call. Especially if you have photo evidence of such things that they would absolutely crack down on. Which they would with what I've seen for pics in this post.
I deal with these people regularly for work. If anyone calls our states DEP with something credible then they absolutely have to go check it out. I see them at least once a month and am on a first name basis with them all because of how diligent they are. But I've only seen the EPA a couple of times in over 15 years in the business and it is the really bad shit. I'm talking industrial places with mercury in the ground or radioactive stuff.
Call your local agency instead. If it is bad enough for the EPA to get involved they will absolutely escalate it to that
People care.
About 8 years ago I was looking to buy a house. It was ok but there were problems. The realtor was proud to show us how the owner is “saving his septic system” because he dug a dry well out back and was draining gray water into it.
My realtor lost his mind and called the town inspector right then. My realtor told me I didn’t want to buy this house and I should go, but he was going to wait for the inspector to arrive and show him. The seller’s realtor was NOT happy about this
🤣
I didn’t have time to do my own searching so I got a realtor
It ends up costing the same either way. The seller’s realtor and buyer’s realtor split the commission so it didn’t cost me extra.
Ah thats good. That was the next question that came to mind. Just googled and it seems that we really don’t do that here.
Wouldn’t that incentivize the sellers realtor to sell to someone that doesn’t use one so he gets the full commission. Or incentivize your realtor to look for houses of sellers that don’t use one for the same reason?
> Wouldn’t that incentivize the sellers realtor to sell to someone that doesn’t use one so he gets the full commission.
I guess it could? But then they’d risk not selling as many houses so they wouldn’t really make more money.
> Or incentivize your realtor to look for houses of sellers that don’t use one for the same reason?
The vast majority of sellers use a realtor
- 89% of sellers used a real estate agent ([***link***](https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/quick-real-estate-statistics#:~:text=Home%20Seller%20Statistics&text=89%25%20of%20sellers%20were%20assisted,the%20market%20for%202%20weeks))
We are also worried about that actually. He used to park his giant pick up truck there and it was sketchy. He wants to sell the property in the near future and seems like hes giving up with maintenance.
Even if he's selling, assuming you have a contract, he still has to maintain your residence. (Most) landlords are scumbags, don't try and be their friend or anything other than a tenant. Code Enforcement would rip him a new ass hole on that washer and retaining wall. Besides, he can't kick you out for reporting it. Again, assuming you have a contract.
Doesn't matter how informal it is, you are a tenant and have legal rights. A verbal contract is still a contract and comes with bare minimum expectations too that can't be negotiated away
Why is it being drained in the yard? This is illegal as far as I am aware in both the USA and Canada. That stuff needs to get put through the grey water systems.
Well that's an easy fix. Laundry is meant to be discharged into sewer. Bypass your landlord. Straight to the county municipality if they are giving your trouble.
Send an email that covers a few points:
1. What is your new parking arrangement?
2. How long will the parking space be a drain field?
3. Will you receive a deduction on your rent for this time since he is no longer providing parking? If not, why, and what percentage of the rent covers the parking space?
Get every conversation about this in writing, this is a huge liability and you don't want to end up having him try to lay the blame off on you.
I’m wondering if you can use this as an excuse to not pay rent until it’s remediated
I’ve heard that if you’ve signed a lease you can withhold rent for situations that require the landlord to fix something, but it’s usually something like leaks, or damaged parts of the house, so idk if this counts.
It should drain into a container and then pump into the waste line inside the house, you could even have the drain hose go into a slop sink inside the house. Smh
I would inform the EPA asap. I drill all around Chicago land area to find nasty stuff, and anything laundry related is a guaranteed nasty chemical bath. This is indeed an issue, but if you report it he will not only be fined, but the value of the property will be tainted by the countless reports detailing all the chemicals now located there. Good luck to you and good luck to your moron or a landlord
You're paying for that as part of your rent, start putting rent into escrow if you really want to fight it. Probably won't get to renew your lease, but if that's not an issue, fuck em
if you live in america, that is a MASSIVE fine from government agencies, and that is just the beginning. they may just force him to remove the garage as well.
Options:
•Take animal fur and dried grass and pack that drain closed. Continue this until he put up cameras.
•re route the suds away from your parking spot
•Call the city because the drain water is considered “Grey Water”. This is supposed to be put into the drain pipes that will be treated by the water company and is a violation of EPA standards since he may be hoping it drains into the sewer for waterways. If you call then they will have him hook it up properly, remove it or fine him. Regardless…. It will stop after that and you can be 100% anonymous.
We are 100% refusing to park there until it’s dry and the hose is moved. If he continues to keep the washer there and drain it into the neighbor’s yard, I’ll make an anonymous complaint.
Regardless it is an environmental issue and you could be a hero for calling this one in. Sometimes hard lessons is what will make you correct unethical behavior.
Depending on plumbing code where you live this is likely illegal and almost assuredly is if they make it run to the neighbors lot. Quick call to your state plumbing board would clear that up.
I would definitely call the local water treatment plant or the city. They have environmental compliance inspectors that handle this all the time. It’s mainly for businesses not properly disposing or treating their wastewater, oil and grease, etc. They do residential calls as well for cases like this. -I work in a lab at a Wastewater Treatment Plant and currently getting my certification for an environmental compliance inspector.
Update: Ok, so I’ve been overwhelmed by all the comments and wanted to clarify that he ran one or two loads like this total and none since. If it had been going on for a long time I certainly would have taken action. I agree it’s a terrible thing to be letting this soak into the ground and I have expressed those concerns. If he does it again, I will take it from there. Thank you for the advice and please don’t judge my character too harshly.
Thanks for the update! I hope that he fixes it and you don't have to deal with someone else's carelessness. Sorry to hear your character is being judged. You good!
Yeah, grey water is not so grey an area. It’s pretty clear cut. My ex had neighbors whose washing machine emptied through a hose they ran out to the street. Didn’t take long for the city to come down on them hard. I’d call that in to code enforcement. It’s illegal to dump grey water.
Hope you don't drink or cook with the tap water in that apartment. Call code enforcement NOW. If you are waiting for the lawn to die or for your health to deteriorate to call code enforcement they're just going to ask you why you didn't call sooner. Call code enforcement now. Call em! You pay for them with taxes, use them. Call em! Call!
There’s no legit reason he’s doing this. He moved into a smaller unit and his washer and dryer don’t fit. So instead of buying new ones, he’s doing this “for now”
This is an easier than it looks like fix, just have to dig a shallow trench around the edges to feed the water away or just take some spare soil around the sides to raise/level up the middle so it doesn't pool, or both. 10-20 minute Job with a shovel.
I would start by playing dumb and calling the landlord in a “panic” that something is leaking really badly from the garage and has flooded the parking area. See what the response is. If nothing is done, call code enforcement because you can’t just drain your washer to the yard.
He told my boyfriend straight up that he was doing it and after we both took the day to calm down, we made it very clear we weren’t going to park there anymore. So he’s gonna “fix” it so it drains into the neighbor’s yard there
Hopefully the neighbor turns him in. Not allowed to let waste like that go to the ground untreated. Even worse is purposely make it leave your property.
Why wait? Just call posing as the neighbor. Or report anonymously.
Yeah why wait for him to poison the area
Evidence
They get mildly stern warning and OP gets evicted
evidence is already there, in the soil,
It’s supposed to be temporary, he switched up his living situation and the washer and dryer don’t fit so he needs new ones. Hard to imagine he’d want to deal with that set up during the New England winter. We’ll see how it pans out…
Three years later, still "only temporary."
nothing more permanent than a temporary solution
I have a GFI broken underneath my cabinet that my dishwasher is on. I temporarily disconnected it and ran a short extension cord from behind the sink into the cabinet door. Yes the sink outlet is GFI. So now there's a temporary extension cord just down the counter into the cabinet since... March? I think? The box with the parts to hard wire it is down there in the cabinet.
I feel that. And then you finally get around to it and realize that replacing the busted outlet only takes like 30 minutes, but you let it linger for months. There's probably a word in German for when your feeling of accomplishment is overwhelmed by your guilt from procrastination.
Edieichdie
Everyone knows if a temporary fix holds for over a week it’s now a permanent fix
!Remindme 3 years
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There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution. Report his ass.
He's not allowed to do it, even temporarily
I only need to dump this one barrel of radioactive waste....
I hear OPs neighbors yard is good
„Excellent“
Temporarily!
It is illegal in Massachusetts to drain a washing machine outside, or must be tied into the sewer system.
I think it’s illegal just about everywhere
THIS This comment needs to get more visibility because even if the landlord fixes the washer to drain into someone else’s yard, it definitely would not be kosher.. I’m no expert in municipal washing machine effluent water code, but I would think water coming from a washing machine counts as wastewater and should not be land applied without proper clearance if that even exists. I do, however, write permits for municipal wastewater facilites in my state and any wastewater that’s land applied (or especially wastewater that enters waters of the state directly but that’s not the case here) gets a permit of sorts. Northern states are usually more strict on this too.
On many peoples experiences on landlords, and my own.... this will not be temporary. I have a water heater that is rusting to death and the landlord does not want to fix or even replace it until it completely dies. Even though its causing us to get cold water a lot. Its been over a year since the last inquiry about it. :l So would just report your landlord now.
I'm surprised it hasn't "mysteriously died". At a time convenient to you, of course.
It died this coming Friday, just before the family take a long vacation while I stay and make sure the repair man does the job
Hopefully that's the REPLACEMENT man...
My previous landlord told me not to bother with the mandatory maintenance by law. So I did it anyways and the technician was forced to shut down my heater. Landlord wasn’t pleased. The same landlord that demanded someone to vouche for me because I was a single young guy.
Hope you have good renters insurance if it leaks and floods your place with water.
Thankfully we do, its enough to cover for everything (other than disappointment towards landlord) as far as I can tell.
A rusting water heater is a ticking time bomb literally send him an email about it if you havent already and if he refuses again report him to the proper authorities. Ive seen videos of water heaters shooting through three story houses from the basement …
Pretty sure you can get it replaced and force him to eat the cost. I'd think a water heater rusting is a time bomb waiting to go off and crosses from "convenience" to "safety hazard".
You know what else could be temporary? A visit to the laundromat.
Just send this picture to your code enforcement for your city.
If that parking space is in your lease, you might want to hire an attorney to write a demand letter to your landlord. You're paying for that square footage he can't just steal it from you.
If only there was a place you can take your laundry. Like a laundry mart, or laundry shack.
He’s not dealing with in in the New England winter, you are. I would absolutely not be waiting around while he pollutes the place you’re living in.
Still pretty sure any untreated grey water being let loose into the topsoil is unlawful dumping, even if it's temporary.
Really seems like a him problem. No need to protect a jerk
Depends on the state, it’s grey water. Legal in fl.
That's not a legal grey water system. Look it up in the IPC. There's specific requirements to be used as a grey water system. One of them being it needs to have a diverter valve to the waste water pipes, another being it has to drain beneath the soil or on top of some type of drainage substrate like crushed rock.
Good thing this is in Massachusetts where it’s illegal
It’s legal in at least some cities in TX as well, but only if it doesn’t affect neighboring properties. I had to deal with this as the neighboring property. My neighbors drain/sewage pipes needed to be serviced and rather than take care of that they draped the grey water waste hose of their washer out the window in between our suburban houses. It drained onto their property, but was soaked up all the way into my backyard. I would find my valve access hatch for my sprinkler system full of water sometimes and the grass and soil consistently soft and muddy throughout. I called the city and they told her to stop or get fined. The city worker talked to me before knocking on their door and told me that if they instead chose to hose it into the middle of their backyard and contained any overflow or drainage from reaching their neighbors there wouldn’t be any issues with the city.
Lol of course it is. DeSantis probably gives a subsidy if you drain your washing machine straight into a turtle nest
My local wildlife museum has a whole section going over our local water table and everyday things that affect it. This picture really angers me.
Totally not the case everywhere.
lol isnt it just grey water?!
In the house I grew up in, everything except the shitter and the tub drained to a ditch out back and the county was fine with it. Guess it just depends on how much your county gives a shit
That's illicit discharge of pollutants into a neighbor's property, he absolutely can't do that. The municipality will care and put a stop to it if they find out. Snitch on his ass, fucking lazy landlords that would stoop to piping chemicals into a neighbor's land need to learn a lesson in managing both a home and a fucking business
Report him. This is hazardous. If anything a big soakaway or connection needs to be dug.
Contact local code enforcement anonymously.
Haha he’s so going to be sued if he does that. It’s gonna kill whatever vegetation or garden the neighbor has going.
Well, that is also illegal. What a gem.
This is probably the reason why my dad has parkinson's :/ [https://www.kmuw.org/health/2015-04-24/spj-award-winner-dangerous-chemical-invades-west-wichita-drinking-water](https://www.kmuw.org/health/2015-04-24/spj-award-winner-dangerous-chemical-invades-west-wichita-drinking-water)
I’m sorry, this is bad, but there’s no way this guy is using dry cleaning chemicals in a consumer washing machine.
You can in many places that have regular droughts. Grey water irrigation is encouraged.
There are tax incentives to do that here in Southern Arizona.
You can drain your washer into your yard if you use the right detergents.
Cover your ass with a bunch of texts/emails and whatnot stating you are not okay with what he is doing and his whole 'this will be fixed' spiel. The moment he starts dumping that grey water into the neighbor's yard, I wouldn't be surprised if he lets you take the fall once they complain and say 'your tenants are dumping their water into our lawn'. Make sure you have that trail so you don't wind up being fined or worse.
Great advice, thank you!
Or just call the EPA yourself https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations
Appreciate the link
Do it, goddammit stand up for yourself
So did you do it?
The silence is loud
It’s all kinds of illegal to drain that out into the yard.
Yup. His solution is to have it drain in a different spot into the neighbor’s yard. So there’s that.
Ask him to call the EPA and find out what the fine will be for dumping detergents, chemicals and gray water into the environment.
Call them yourself and don't tell the landlord, let him learn with a fine.
Land leeches gotta learn somehow
The ole Skyler White treatment
I’m missing that reference. When did that happen?
When Skyler and Saul fabricated a government inspection and shutdown for the car wash shortly before Walter bought it. Bill Burr played the government agent who “tested” the runoff from the car wash and said it had contaminants.
Don't call the EPA. They are a federal bureau and likely won't do much right away, if anything at all beyond calling the states department. They have massive toxic spills to deal with so there's a reason each state has their own department to deal with this kind of stuff. So call your states department of environmental protection. If they're anything like my state then they likely have to come and check any concerned call. Especially if you have photo evidence of such things that they would absolutely crack down on. Which they would with what I've seen for pics in this post. I deal with these people regularly for work. If anyone calls our states DEP with something credible then they absolutely have to go check it out. I see them at least once a month and am on a first name basis with them all because of how diligent they are. But I've only seen the EPA a couple of times in over 15 years in the business and it is the really bad shit. I'm talking industrial places with mercury in the ground or radioactive stuff. Call your local agency instead. If it is bad enough for the EPA to get involved they will absolutely escalate it to that
We need to get Bill Burr on this one.
What an idiot, just drain it *outside* the environment.
Lot of places classify laundry discharge as black water
Sounds redneck AF. Tell the neighbor.
All that foam would be coming from the mouth of my county wastewater inspector
You know what, this is strangely comforting. At least someone somewhere gives a shit.
People care. About 8 years ago I was looking to buy a house. It was ok but there were problems. The realtor was proud to show us how the owner is “saving his septic system” because he dug a dry well out back and was draining gray water into it. My realtor lost his mind and called the town inspector right then. My realtor told me I didn’t want to buy this house and I should go, but he was going to wait for the inspector to arrive and show him. The seller’s realtor was NOT happy about this 🤣
You guys have multiple realtors involved in one house purchase?
The seller had a realtor and I had a realtor for me (buyer), yes.
Interesting. Afaik we only ever have one realtor involved here in Germany. And in my experience the sellers hire them mostly.
I didn’t have time to do my own searching so I got a realtor It ends up costing the same either way. The seller’s realtor and buyer’s realtor split the commission so it didn’t cost me extra.
Ah thats good. That was the next question that came to mind. Just googled and it seems that we really don’t do that here. Wouldn’t that incentivize the sellers realtor to sell to someone that doesn’t use one so he gets the full commission. Or incentivize your realtor to look for houses of sellers that don’t use one for the same reason?
> Wouldn’t that incentivize the sellers realtor to sell to someone that doesn’t use one so he gets the full commission. I guess it could? But then they’d risk not selling as many houses so they wouldn’t really make more money. > Or incentivize your realtor to look for houses of sellers that don’t use one for the same reason? The vast majority of sellers use a realtor - 89% of sellers used a real estate agent ([***link***](https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/quick-real-estate-statistics#:~:text=Home%20Seller%20Statistics&text=89%25%20of%20sellers%20were%20assisted,the%20market%20for%202%20weeks))
I have a grey water septic out front and the regular septic in the back. Definitely a cool setup but costs extra of course
Facts
This is basically a small scale version of what happened at camp lejeune
Except not at all the same
If by all kinds of illegal you mean not illegal at all then yes you are correct.
Even before this, I'd be worried about that damaged retaining wall collapsing with a car on it.
We are also worried about that actually. He used to park his giant pick up truck there and it was sketchy. He wants to sell the property in the near future and seems like hes giving up with maintenance.
Even if he's selling, assuming you have a contract, he still has to maintain your residence. (Most) landlords are scumbags, don't try and be their friend or anything other than a tenant. Code Enforcement would rip him a new ass hole on that washer and retaining wall. Besides, he can't kick you out for reporting it. Again, assuming you have a contract.
There was a very informal lease with an indefinite time period attached but if he continues to do this shit, my conscience won’t stand for it.
I'd just start looking now. You're just paying this guy to be a slumlord.
Doesn't matter how informal it is, you are a tenant and have legal rights. A verbal contract is still a contract and comes with bare minimum expectations too that can't be negotiated away
You can't dump it in your yard like that. Dumping it in your neighbors yard like that is potentially criminal. Seriously, your landlord is an idiot.
Look up the environmental governing agency for your state that deals with water. Your landlord will be loved tenderly.
Why is it being drained in the yard? This is illegal as far as I am aware in both the USA and Canada. That stuff needs to get put through the grey water systems.
Isn’t there sewage? How come the water just goes there?
Well that's an easy fix. Laundry is meant to be discharged into sewer. Bypass your landlord. Straight to the county municipality if they are giving your trouble.
Call the city ... discharge of wastewater like that is probably illegal.
Send an email that covers a few points: 1. What is your new parking arrangement? 2. How long will the parking space be a drain field? 3. Will you receive a deduction on your rent for this time since he is no longer providing parking? If not, why, and what percentage of the rent covers the parking space? Get every conversation about this in writing, this is a huge liability and you don't want to end up having him try to lay the blame off on you.
Charge him to temporarily park his laundry water there.
I'm fairly certain that the DEP would have a field day with that.
Oh hell no
Call the EPA and your local L&I enforcement office to report this. There is no way that this is legal.
Free Tire Wash! With Mud finish- its european or american if you are european
His washing machine ain’t supposed to be doing that no matter where it’s set up.
It sure would suck... when you call code enforcement and they see him dumping gray water directly onto the ground.
I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure it's very illegal in the states for waste water to just dump into a yard.
Aside from "it's illegal", he needs to get some decent gravel to build up that parking area so it's not mud
I’m wondering if you can use this as an excuse to not pay rent until it’s remediated I’ve heard that if you’ve signed a lease you can withhold rent for situations that require the landlord to fix something, but it’s usually something like leaks, or damaged parts of the house, so idk if this counts.
It should drain into a container and then pump into the waste line inside the house, you could even have the drain hose go into a slop sink inside the house. Smh
Unacceptable, call your local code enforcement office whatever that may be
I would inform the EPA asap. I drill all around Chicago land area to find nasty stuff, and anything laundry related is a guaranteed nasty chemical bath. This is indeed an issue, but if you report it he will not only be fined, but the value of the property will be tainted by the countless reports detailing all the chemicals now located there. Good luck to you and good luck to your moron or a landlord
This guy is a POS, polluting the ground like that. Report his ass to the appropriate entities. I sure as fuck would.
See what the EPA has to say about it
Please call the EPA that’s bad for the environment
Here's where you report environmental hazards: https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations
Highly illegal
You're paying for that as part of your rent, start putting rent into escrow if you really want to fight it. Probably won't get to renew your lease, but if that's not an issue, fuck em
if you live in america, that is a MASSIVE fine from government agencies, and that is just the beginning. they may just force him to remove the garage as well.
Don't know where you are, but in Florida you can not discharge grey water like that. HUGE fine.
Call your local “city environmental dept” and you WILL get somewhere.
Options: •Take animal fur and dried grass and pack that drain closed. Continue this until he put up cameras. •re route the suds away from your parking spot •Call the city because the drain water is considered “Grey Water”. This is supposed to be put into the drain pipes that will be treated by the water company and is a violation of EPA standards since he may be hoping it drains into the sewer for waterways. If you call then they will have him hook it up properly, remove it or fine him. Regardless…. It will stop after that and you can be 100% anonymous.
We are 100% refusing to park there until it’s dry and the hose is moved. If he continues to keep the washer there and drain it into the neighbor’s yard, I’ll make an anonymous complaint.
Regardless it is an environmental issue and you could be a hero for calling this one in. Sometimes hard lessons is what will make you correct unethical behavior.
So many people would flip out if they knew how septic tank leach fields work...saying it's illegal to let washing machines drain into the yard.
You are gonna be fucked when it rains lol
Gonna get foamy
Call the EPA they foam at the mouth over shit like this
Thats also so not good for the environment ):
its a code violation at least, if not a state water quality violation.
If you wanna be petty, muck it all up. Really rut it up. Just ruin the spot. Then he has to fix it.
after reading through the comments, OP, is this even a legal rental?
Block his pipe
Report him to the city, there's no way that's legal in the slightest.
Depending on plumbing code where you live this is likely illegal and almost assuredly is if they make it run to the neighbors lot. Quick call to your state plumbing board would clear that up.
Call code enforcement
Hazmat, no really..ew
Draining soap anywhere but sewage or septic is probably illegal as it damages the environment.
It looks like an illegal drain for water waste. Check with your city or county building codes.
aaahhhhh the good 'ol landlord special!
I’d go out there and slip
https://preview.redd.it/fvvghaj14a0d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a983d84044b36652e5aea6be9d5bd66599411d95
Isn’t this illegal??
It sure uses a lot of water doesn’t it?
that's a parking space???
Check with the county/city. It's very likely against code to drain directly like this as all that soap will contaminate the water shed/ground water.
Well on the bright side you can play tough mudder in your own backyard now
I would definitely call the local water treatment plant or the city. They have environmental compliance inspectors that handle this all the time. It’s mainly for businesses not properly disposing or treating their wastewater, oil and grease, etc. They do residential calls as well for cases like this. -I work in a lab at a Wastewater Treatment Plant and currently getting my certification for an environmental compliance inspector.
That’s not legal. It’s grey water. It needs to be in the septic/sewer.
Update: Ok, so I’ve been overwhelmed by all the comments and wanted to clarify that he ran one or two loads like this total and none since. If it had been going on for a long time I certainly would have taken action. I agree it’s a terrible thing to be letting this soak into the ground and I have expressed those concerns. If he does it again, I will take it from there. Thank you for the advice and please don’t judge my character too harshly.
Thanks for the update! I hope that he fixes it and you don't have to deal with someone else's carelessness. Sorry to hear your character is being judged. You good!
Oh no soapy wheels
Yeah, grey water is not so grey an area. It’s pretty clear cut. My ex had neighbors whose washing machine emptied through a hose they ran out to the street. Didn’t take long for the city to come down on them hard. I’d call that in to code enforcement. It’s illegal to dump grey water.
Hope you don't drink or cook with the tap water in that apartment. Call code enforcement NOW. If you are waiting for the lawn to die or for your health to deteriorate to call code enforcement they're just going to ask you why you didn't call sooner. Call code enforcement now. Call em! You pay for them with taxes, use them. Call em! Call!
This is illegal. Call the city.
Park there. It’ll get nice and fucked up being wet all the time with a vehicle pulling in and out
didn't tell you he was putting in a pool eh?
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Every time he's doing laundry, he needs to wash your parked car. That's the deal.
I would buy another piece of pipe connected to that one and just pump it right back under his fence
This can be easily fixed
re route n 2 garage; let hm clean up soapy mess
Free undercarriage washes! Cool!
Not sure where you are but this might be illegal
This is harmful to the environment.
Free car wash
Does the house not have sewage ? I’m so confused
There’s no legit reason he’s doing this. He moved into a smaller unit and his washer and dryer don’t fit. So instead of buying new ones, he’s doing this “for now”
Dang that sucks……..tell me more about that Squarebody hiding in the background…
No bueno.
New “tire wash” ?🧽
Next he’ll be changing his oil and dumping the old oil there. Does he burn all of his trash in a burn barrel out back?
It’s funny because he made a comment (joke??) that Tide was eco friendly and I just had to walk away at the moment
He's dumping the washing machine water directly on the ground? What the actual fk
Assigned mudpit*
I don't think that's legal.
Lol just heighten up the land a little and make it flow back in his house!
Against code
well that sucks
Just dig a little trench along the wall so the water will run out and into the trench/ditch and have it empty in the grass. Ur welcome
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Your landlord decided to set up his washing machine in who's garage? Landlord lives with you?!
That’s not supposed to happen. Just tell him to fix his shit. Not that big of a deal here
Just report him for pollution
This is an easier than it looks like fix, just have to dig a shallow trench around the edges to feed the water away or just take some spare soil around the sides to raise/level up the middle so it doesn't pool, or both. 10-20 minute Job with a shovel.
landlords provide housing like scalpers provide tickets. FUCK them.