[ WP ] While digging in your back yard , you make a discovery .

A burst water main has me digging in the middle of the night. I just wanted to relax to the sounds of the night as I relieve myself but instead confront an unflushable toilet. 
 
 I searched for the culprit and found a massive puddle in the back yard. I shut the water off and decided I was not going to go back to sleep at this point. Now I have to use a large bowl to sift through the muddy area that was my favorite grill spot because I do n't own a shovel. 
 
 After a few moments of retrospectively comedic struggle with modern plumbing, I uncover what seemed to be the problem. The problem was as I suspected, a cracked pipeline. The cause was less expected. 
 
 Tree roots had basically strangled the pipe and caused fractures. That sounds normal, except there is n't a tree anywhere near my house. I even took a few minutes to scan the neighborhood for trees I might have simply ignored for whatever reason. No trees. What, then, would have such massive roots? 
 
 Exhaustion, confusion and being filthy lead to zero determination to solve the mystery that night. I slept the rest of the night away and returned to the problem the following morning. 
 
 I made an inquiry to local land surveyors about the history of the land around my home. I was curious if any trees had been uprooted before I moved into my home. There was no record of any such work being done. 
 
 My next thought was to identify the species of the plant to which the roots belonged. I figured a botanical gardener could help or get me in touch with someone who could. I was pointed towards a young woman, Brianna, who ran a local urban farm. 
 
 Brianna visited my home and saw the tangled mesh of roots choking away the source of watery goodness that allows my toilets to flush. At first glance she had the same conclusion as myself, tree roots. Upon further inspection, Brianna's jaw became slackened. She had cut into the roots to see if they were still alive. If they were, then they must be feeding something. 
 
 Her startled expression spread to my face as she showed me what was running through the roots. She was pretty sure it was mostly water, but the really kicker was that it was black... 
 
 
 ( If this brews enough interest I'll keep going. ) 
 

