I wanted to write to commend the city of Athens as well as Athens utilities for having such an outstanding, dedicated sewer department.

On Saturday, January 18, all of the drains in our house backed up. We called a plumber from Huntsville to come out and he couldn’t find any clogs inside of the house lines and never could figure out where the clog was. This ordeal lasted for nearly four days without any resolution. My husband, out of desperation, called the city sewer department on Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King Day), hoping to get some assistance. That day, the department sent out a young man named Hunter to our home. Needless to say, we were surprised that they would do this, as while inconvenient for us, it was not a major emergency by any means. He told my husband where we needed a sewer clean out access port (our original one had been covered up accidentally when we built our detached garage) and suggested we call a plumber to install it.

On Tuesday, January 21, the plumbing company installed the plug and on Wednesday the 22nd, Hunter and his crew came back out to check the line. Much like the first day it took a while of searching to find the problem. The clog was at a point several feet below ground level and that would require several more days to clear. Hunter came up with a far easier solution by running a high-pressure water hose into the sewer line and blasted away the clog. Despite the fact they brought a truck and other equipment onto our property, when they left you couldn’t tell they had even been there.

So, I wanted to give several big “thank you’s” to Hunter, his crew and the Athens Sewer Department. These men work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the sewer system which we all take for granted runs well and fix any problems that may arise.

Jane T Marshall, Athens