John O'Brien began his day yesterday with his pants around his ankles, scrambling for cover as a fountain of sewer water and waste erupted into his bathroom.

"I was doing my business, sitting on my toilet, and the toilet blew sewer water into my butt," he said.

The reason behind the bathroom blast? During a routine sewer cleaning, pressure built up in the line and exited through O'Brien's toilet because the house has no vent pipe, which prevents pressure build-up, State College Director of Public Works Mark Whitfield said.

On the outside, O'Brien's Piersol Lane house is the picture of tranquility, with a lawn full of sunflowers and a birdhouse, but yesterday afternoon the inside of his house was anything but calm.

The State College resident started his day the way he always does. He woke up, drank a cup of coffee, grabbed a book and relaxed on his porcelain throne -- "The toilet is where a man does his best thinking," O'Brien said.

He was shocked by the fountain of water and sewage erupting from his toilet.

O'Brien jumped into the shower, hoping to avoid the mess, but found the shower was filled with feces as well. The floor and toilet was covered in much more fecal matter than he could have created on his own, and five to 10 gallons of water, he said.

"The poo was more than I would produce," he said.

The toilets in his neighborhood do this at least twice a year, but never before has he found himself on top of the blast, O'Brien said.

"I'm going to the emergency room to make sure I don't have an infection," he said. "Just think about the germs."

O'Brien is more worried for his three daughters than for himself, he said.

"They have open areas that can get infected easily. I would never want this to happen to my girls," he said.

O'Brien called State College Mayor Bill Welch, who labeled the situation "regrettable."

"It is unclear where the fault lies. It's possible that portion of the sewer may require maintenance," said Welch, who redirected O'Brien to Whitfield.

This was the first time he had heard about a problem at this location, Whitfield said.

"We can't correct anything until we know about it," he added.

There have been no reported problems on campus, Office of Physical Plant spokesman Paul Ruskin said, adding if any problems do surface, the university will work with municipal officials.

"Penn State cooperates routinely with the borough," he said.

O'Brien said the eruption reminded him of a French bidet, a plumbing fixture meant to replace toilet paper that shoots water at its users.

"I don't think they meant for that though," he said.

He wishes the experience had never happened and thinks cleaning up the mess should not have been his responsibility. He began cleaning in the early afternoon and had the fecal matter gone by 5 p.m., though towels and cleaning products remained strewn about the room.

O'Brien called a lawyer, and said he will be angry if another sewage geyser spews from his toilet.

"I'll be wanting to wring somebody's neck," he said.