PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. (WISC) — Shortly before the pandemic began, Benjamin Nelms bought a 100-year-old bank building in the heart of Prairie du Sac in hopes of renovating it for the community’s use. Little did he know, he would get to know the community on a level too close for comfort.

“This was not the way I intended to get to know the community,” Nelms said.

Two weeks ago, Nelms entered his building and smelled sewage coming from the basement. When he went down the stairs to see what the cause was, Nelms found himself ankle deep in sewage water.

“This room was covered in brown water and my new shower was covered in brown filth,” Nelms said. “It’s all been sterilized since then.”

Nelms said there he cleared out around 100 gallons of sewage water. He said he was fortunate that the pandemic put a hold on developing the interior of the building and the only things ruined were a few lumber boards he had stores in the basement.

Nelms said after speaking with the sewage commission, they determined the cause was a backup up main pipe caused by an overflow of things like Clorox wipes.