EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Aaron and George’s Film Cafe in Downtown El Paso remains temporarily closed as it deals with constantly rising wastewater coming from its drains.
Owner Douglas Winter says the issue first happened back in August and continues to be a problem.
Winter said the plumbing issues are worse than ever with the cafe flooding every day. He said two days ago, a handyman stopped by to help and pulled out an array of items from the pipes, including “magazines, T-shirts and underpants.”
Winter said he has spoken to City maintenance, Code Enforcement and El Paso Water and hopes action is taken quickly to resume business operations.
KTSM reached out to El Paso Water who said in a statement:
“Property owners are responsible for maintenance of wastewater lines on their property. We want to remind customers that toilets are not trash cans. Items like wet wipes, cotton balls, towels, food, FOG (fats, oils and greases) should not be flushed or sent down the drains.”
Winter explained the clogs could not be from his establishment since they have not been open but is remaining optimistic for a quick resolution.
When KTSM arrived on the scene EP Water and plumbers were working on the drainage system.
“It’s a health hazard; it’s really terrible,” said Winter.
Ideally, he hopes plumbing will be done in two or three weeks and have ground broken within a month to be able to reopen.
Winter says the best part of their frustrating situation is the outpouring of support from the community. Since posting on the cafe’s Instagram page, the business has received over 100 encouraging comments.
“This is really great. This is horrible, but there’s a really big silver lining. I really was absolutely ready to quit. I was going to tell my landlord, ‘I can’t do this anymore’, but no. We’re not going to quit now,” Winter said.
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