During periods of heavy rain, sewage from every home on the street is forced up through the pipes and out of a manhole outside the family’s property. This leaves toilet tissue, human waste and sanitary products spread across the pavement. Street cleaners, who did not come to the street until the heavy rain started, appear each morning to sweep away the sewage. The council are aware that this is an ‘ongoing problem’ and beyond her concern about the hazardous waste outside her front door, Walker worries about the social consequences. The children ‘attend the local Spanish school’ and the family has become ‘really integrated into the Spanish culture and lifestyle’.