Sewage Problems Plague Library

Wed., Sept. 25, 1996

From Staff Reports

The downtown Spokane library hopes to flush all its problems away today by fixing the building’s clogged plumbing.

Backed-up toilets forced the library to close early at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Library patrons and workers had to use restrooms at City Hall or other nearby buildings.

Until the problem is fixed, the library will continue to close at 6 instead of 9 p.m., said Aubrey George, the library’s interim director.

The building still will open at 10 a.m. today.

“A private excavation crew will come in in the morning and try to fix the problem. Until then, we won’t have restroom or water use,” George said Tuesday.

Installation of fiber optic cables on Lincoln was thought to have caused the problem, but George said that may not be true.

“We had a plumber come in and run a sewer snake through the plumbing. He couldn’t reach the main sewer, so it may be something backed up that has nothing to do with the work outside the library,” George said.

The library’s custodial crew first discovered the problem when it noticed water dripping from a first-floor restroom Tuesday morning. , DataTimes

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