WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Neighbors in one Winter Haven condo community say they are dealing with a serious sewage issue and fear it’s becoming a health hazard.
It is supposed to be paradise at Orchid Springs Village, a quiet 55-plus community in Winter Haven. But residents say what is happening underground is anything but peaceful.
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“When it rains everything backs up. The 100 units over there, all their plumbing does not work. On the north side of the building, we have a water fountain coming out of the sewer cover,” said Dan Whelpley.
Whelpley is president of the Homeowners Association. He said the problem centers around the community’s lift station, a system designed to pump wastewater from lower to higher ground. He says two of the four lift stations haven’t worked properly in years.
“They need to replace the two pumps in there. They replaced one. The other pump still wasn't replaced. When they replaced it, they didn’t update it to the building code, which should be a visual alarm and audio alarm,” Whelpley said. They have a visual alarm but it's under lock and key, behind this building where no resident can see when the lift station isn't working.”
Neighbors said things took a serious turn last week when contractors doing routine maintenance made a discovery. The bottom of a catch basin had eroded, meaning raw sewage could seep directly into the ground.
The sewer line serves 120 condo units. Residents want the issues fixed before it turns into a bigger health hazard.
“We have a lot of elderly and a lot of people with autoimmune deficiencies so basically that’s my main concern. The health of the residents that live here,”said Pam Allison.
Neighbors say they have repeatedly called the Orchid Springs Water and Sewer Department and its related management company, Baytree Management for help.
“Never returned my call even though it was urgent. Until Friday afternoon,they said they were going to send somebody out. The guy came, lifted the manhole cover and said, ‘yep there is water in it.’ Put it back and I haven’t heard anything back from them since,” Whelpley said.
Tampa Bay 28 also reached out to Orchid Springs Water and Sewer Department and Baytree Management, and has not heard back.
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