A MULLUMBIMBY man who lives near the local sewerage treatment plant woke up on Thursday to find raw effluent spilling over his property.

After hearing a metal manhole lid lifting and banging throughout the night, Station Street resident Rick Barnett discovered "frothy, grey, smelly water" flooding the front lawn.

"You could see the two manholes floating and bubbling a good 20 centimetres above the actual hole," Rick said.

"I rang the council straight away, but was told nothing could be done until they opened at nine o'clock."

While the problem was fixed a short time later, Rick said it's just one of many problems he has experienced since moving into the property four years ago.

"It all started about six months after we moved in," he said. "At one stage, you couldn't open your mouth in any room in the house without tasting sewage. That was apparently a filter problem but it went on for weeks."

"They reckon they've fixed that but it always depends on which way the wind blows."

Rick said neighbours have also called SES on numerous occasions due to strong odours emanating from the manholes.

"They've come and tested them out with probes and found high levels of methane gas," he said. "I don't know if it would harm anyone but I wouldn't want to drop a match near it."