Homeowners guidebook to dealing with blocked drains
Homeowners guidebook to dealing with blocked drains
One of the most difficult kinds of household emergencies is a blocked drain. Like many emergencies, there is often no warning before they occur. Unpleasant odors, flooding of your house and loss of power are the worst aspects of a blocked drain. Blocked drains can also effect your business prospects by cutting down on the sales and productivity and reducing the number of customers.
Listed below are some easy steps you can take to minimize the chance of a drain becoming blocked, whether due to the introduction of foreign object or a structural fault.
Remove hair clumps that collect in the waste plug hole on a regular basis.
Maintain all other small things like medicine bottles, toilet rolls or combs at a distance from the toilet to avoid them falling into it by mistake.
Using a disinfectant and hot water to clear the soap residues and regularly flushing the wash basin and shower pipework will prevent accumulation over time.
Avoid flushing big items like nappies or sanitary towels as they can block the drains.
It is a good idea to compost food waste rather than discarding it in the kitchen sink.
In case any vegetable material does fall into the sink try removing it out of the plug hole and do not poke it down the drain as this could hamper the blockage making it tougher to remove.
Disposing of cooking fats down the kitchen sink should never be done as the fats can solidify when they come in contact with cold water. When there are no other options other than flushing fats into the sink, dilute and soften the fats or other foods using hot water and detergent, so that they go through easily without blocking. Having done this, a proper water flow should be maintained by running the water for a short period of time.
Following a set of regular maintenance activities one can reduce the chances of having a drain blockage.
Check the house roof gutters and rain downpipes twice a year.
Be careful while you are working at a height and use a trowel to remove the waste products from the pipes.
Ensure easy access to the drain inspection covers and carry out timely checks by lifting them regularly to keep a smooth flow of water through the drains.
Remove garden debris from the external drain grids so that rain or garden water does not wash leaves and moss down into the pipework.
Washing the extremal drains with hot water and detergent as regularly as the internal drains is a good practice.
Technology like a CCTV drain inspection service can be implemented, especially if you are running a business, to monitor the drainage systems on a regular basis ensuring complete freedom from worries. By doing all the above, you can easily keep a watch on the proper functioning of your drainage system, maintaining its structure, and you can identify the risks of unexpected blockages well before you face them.