Within every home and business there is a complicated network of fixtures and pipes called the plumbing system. The many different parts all work together to supply us with clean, fresh water, as well as wash away dirty, waste water. Those pipes that bring the clean water in are called supply lines, while those that carry the waste water away are referred to as the drainage system. As with any complex system, eventually something is bound to go wrong, and in the case of plumbing while both lines might experience blockages from time to time, the problem is usually found in the drainage system.
All too often the drainage pipes become clogged, and blocked drains in the North Shore are a regular occurrence that keeps the local plumbers very busy indeed! These drainage problems range from simply annoying to posing a serious threat to the entire plumbing system, the building, and even the health of the people within!
Considering that they can become a major problem, let’s learn more about the different kinds of blockages and their causes!
If a blockage happens in just one fixture, like your shower or your kitchen sink, it is referred to as a “single fixture clog”, and is usually a fairly minor nuisance that can be cleared with a bit of ingenuity and some elbow grease. A much larger problem takes shape when a blocked sewer line prevents the proper disposal of waste water and threatens to damage the home and endanger the health of the residents. This is referred to as a “systemic clog” and it can lead to some serious consequences if it’s not remedied in short order by plumbing professionals.
So, why do these clogs happen?
Supply Line Clogs – While blockages in the supply lines are fairly rare, they do happen. One of the main culprits is hard water. In some areas of Australia, the water supply contains large amounts of minerals that can coat pipes over time with magnesium and calcium until they constrict and even block the flow of clean water!
Drainage System Clogs -The drainage system is the most common site of blockages, they are more susceptible to them because of the waste substances that they flush away. Let’s take a closer look at the two biggest offenders, the kitchen sink and the toilet.
The Kitchen Sink Drain – We don’t mean to do it, but the biggest cause of kitchen sink drain clogs are people. We often forget that we shouldn’t wash substances like grease, fats, or oils down the drain. It may seem like they aren’t a problem because the hot water melts them away, but they are going to cool further down the pipe and transform from a liquid state into a sticky coating lining the drain pipe’s interior. Any food waste that follows will adhere to this glue-like coating until eventually it forms a solid mass and your drain is clogged.
Some other substances that should never be flushed down kitchen drains are high starch content foods like rice, pasta, and potato peels that combine with water to expand and congeal into a clog. Further clog culprits include coffee grinds, bones, egg shells, fruit and vegetable peels, and other fibrous food waste. These should be thrown in the rubbish bin, and never flushed down the kitchen sink drain!
The Bathroom Drains – The bath/shower, the bathroom sink, and of course, the toilet, are all common sites for blockages to occur. Bathroom drains are often the recipient of oily substances like hand creams and body lotions. Those, along with hair care products, bath soaps, and bath crystals, mix with loose hairs follicles to form tenacious clogs that prevent the wastewater from draining away properly.
By far the worst clogging problems are caused by people flushing various inappropriate items down the toilet. The following is a list of flushed items most commonly found by plumbers when working to free clogged pipes– it may sound unbelievable, but it’s true!
- Dental floss
- Kitty litter
- Diapers
- Feminine hygiene products
- Wet wipes
- Paper towels
- Cigarettes
- Cotton swabs
Should people know better? Perhaps! All of those should be tossed in the rubbish bin, the only things that should be flushed down a toilet are human waste and toilet paper, and regarding the latter, toilet paper used in excess is also often to blame for a clogged up toilet!
Flush Wisely!
Photo by Skitterphoto: https://www.pexels.com/photo/water-kitchen-bubble-sink-87299/
Recent Comments