Symptoms of a blocked drain

As our summer rolls on and the Easter break approaches and we get together with our family and friends, keep an eye out for some of those vital symptoms that indicate you have a slow or blocked drain.

Make it a holiday break  to remember for the right reasons,  rather than needing to call an emergency plumber to rescue you and your family from a sewer blockage.

Keep an eye out for:

• The excessive rise or fall of the water level in your toilet. We call it syphoning, and it comes with a Glug Glug Glug sound.
• Slow draining water or ankle deep water in the shower or bath.
• Swarms of small flies  or sewer flies around smelly drains.
• Your kitchen sink, waste disposal unit or dishwasher are slow to drain.
• Toilet paper or dirty water around your sewer surcharge gully in the garden or yard.
• Dirty water leaking from a retaining wall or garden bed that conceals sewer pipes.

These are signs of a blockage, and your pipes are trying to tell you that all isn’t well.

When the extra guests arrive you will know because the additional load on your sewer pipes will bring any blockage to a head.

So have a look around you home for the symptoms of a blocked drain and please don’t ignore them.

If you are unsure, contact your friendly plumber for help and some drain maintenance advice.

What is a blocked drain?

A  drain is an outlet where water can be piped away from a plumbing fixture like a toilet or WC, a basin, bath or shower, a kitchen sink, laundry tubs or an external drain, known as a gully.

Stormwater drains can take discharge from roofing guttering and pits and grates installed to take runoff  water collected from hard surfaces.

A blocked drain is usually referred to when waste water accumulates around any of the drains and can not be evacuated.

Most drains run to either sewer or stormwater mains that are assets of Water authorities, municipal councils and the cities and towns across the country

Most blockages are generally caused by tree roots, grease, hair, sanitary products, dirt and debris or a multitude of foreign items including broken pipes.

Blocked drains are the responsibility of the property owners.

This series of blog posts will be aimed at blocked drain basics.

We will discuss who owns the drains, how to maintain them, what you should and should not put in your drains and what to look out for if your drains are about to block up.

We will look inside pipes, show you a drainoscopy or pipe survey so you know what it’s like in the network of pipes under your homes and buildings.

I encourage your feedback, so please ask questions and we will answer them promptly!

A tale of two drains

These 2 sewer drain  pipes with their lids removed are taking the discharge from neighbouring properties. They are surrounded by different species of large trees. Tree roots are growing into the sewer pipe through the pipe joints

The drain on the left belongs to a client who, after many years of tree root blockages to her sewer pipes, grew tired of the sewer overflow running through her home.

The pipeline runs underneath her marble tiled entrance and the suggestion to renew the pipeline would mean excavating the black and white tiled floor. Matching the tiles would be difficult!

The drain on the right is as we found it. We told the owner about Vaporooter!

The images below show the inside of each pipe.

Guess which drain has had Vaporooter?

Tree Root Removal From Pipes Without Using Chemicals

There are two surefire ways to remove tree roots from pipes and protect plumbing from further tree root intrusion. One: dig up the pipes, cut out the section that hold the roots, and replace the plumbing with new, root resistant pipes. And two: completely remove all plants that could grow into plumbing.

Unfortunately, these options are all but infeasible to the average home or business owner. This system of tree root removal is expensive, and in some cases, impossible.

On top of those drawbacks, cutting the roots can actually make the trees (and roots) grow faster. Add to that the fact that replacing sections of pipes weakens plumbing, which raises the chance that tree roots will find their way back into pipes. This method of removal could make the situation ten times worse!

Some plumbers recommend this removal method for emergency situations only.

Alternative methods might be just as ineffective. Pipes can be relined with cement or mortar, which seals the pipes and kills invasive roots. But, cement often cracks when the surrounding ground shifts and the compromised pipes become a welcome mat for nearby tree root systems.

Other, interesting, non-chemical solutions exist. One method creates a new pipe inside existing plumbing, rerouting water through the new pipe and killing the roots that live in the pipes. Plumbers feed a cloth-like, collapsed pipe down the plumbing system and then fill the pipe with cold water which expands the pipe and activates chemicals that harden the cloth. Voila! A new pipe inside your old pipe.

Another method does the exact opposite. A new PVC liner is placed around the existing damaged pipe, cutting off root access to the old pipes and forming a new plumbing system.

Inside and outer pipe replacement is often more cost effective than substitution of pipe sections, but there are many chemical alternatives that are cheaper, easier and longer lasting, including Vaporooter.

Electric eels

Electric eel is a tool used by plumbers to clear pipes of debris. Electric snakes are used to buy time until a longer-lasting technique can be used to clear the pipe. So if your problem is roots growing into pipes, snaking is a very temporary solution.

These nifty machines are made of over 60 metres of wire cable that spins at over 500 revolutions a minute. A powerful electric eel is enough to clear regular debris and small, thin root blockages. You’re going to need something stronger for dense root blockages.

Plumbers may still use an electric snake on a dense blockage, with the hopes that it will clear enough of the pipe to make it usable in the short-term. On top of their provisionality, electric snakes pose many other problems.

The cables are long and cumbersome, so your plumber and the equipment can be covered in grease and grime. They can make a huge mess in your home if you happen to get careless plumbers. Even the most courteous plumbing experts can still unwittingly leave some muck for you to clean up.

Experts warn against renting or buying electric snakes and using them to routinely clear pipes. The tube spins so fast that it can be dangerous if you’re not trained in the proper use. Like most complicated devices, the use of electric snakes is best left to the pros.