Why some homeowners endure blocked sewers
Why some homeowners endure blocked sewers
Household emergencies can create a havoc and blocked drains are probably one of the worst. It is obvious that most drains emergencies occur without prior warning. Unpleasant odors, flooding of your house and loss of power are the worst aspects of a blocked drain. Drainage problems can loose customers for a business and demotivate employees thereby severely affecting business output, sales and income.
The following include some of the simple defensive measures you can take for lowering the chances of a drain problem, owing to either structural defects or small objects creating a blockage.
Keep a habit of removing any trapped hairs from the drain plug immediately.
Small sized objects like combs, medicine bottles and toilet rolls should be carefully placed to prevent their accidental slipping into the toilet.
Make it a weekly habit to cleanse your bath, wash basin and shower pipe using hot water initially and then rinse with a disinfectant in order to remove the soap residue, so that it cannot accumulate deposits.
Do not dispose of bulky waste like sanitary napkins, baby nappies or shopping wraps in the toilet as they are prone to clog the pipework.
Do not dispose of waste food scraps and cuttings down the kitchen sink, these are much better composted.
If food matter does fall into the sink, try to carefully pull it from the drain hole as pushing it will only jam the pipe further.
Cooking fats have a tendency to solidify when contacting cold water and should not be disposed of in the drainage system. However in case cooking fats are stuck into the drain, you can try to emulsify and dilute them by using detergent with warm water. Run the water for a while after this, so that the the oil is completely flushed out and the pipes remain clear.
There are also a set of regular maintenance activities which can reduce the likelihood of a drains problem.
Rain downpipes and roof gutters must be inspected bi-annually.
Be careful while you are working at a height and use a trowel to remove the waste products from the pipes.
Make sure you can access the inspection covers of your drains easily and open them regularly to ensure free flow.
Make sure that garden matter, such as leaves or moss, are kept out of the outside drainage grids.
The external drains can also be washed with disinfectant and warm water, just like the internal ones.
In case of a business, it is better to employ a CCTV drain inspection service for drain surveys and ensure that they conduct a regular check on your drainage system. By employing CCTV inspections it gives you enough time to implement precautionary measures against any potential blockages, and by this way you can keep a constant check on the structural condition of the drainage pipe also.