Drain cleaning and unblocking
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How blocked drains get cleared
Most blocked drains have a simple cause, such as grease, wipes or tree roots. An engineer may clear the blockage with rods or a water jet. A camera can show the cause, because a drain that keeps blocking may have a damaged pipe. Ask the engineer to explain what they find before they start any extra work.
Engineers pick a method to suit the blockage. For example, rods can break up a soft blockage, while a water jet can wash away grease and silt. Some jobs need both, so ask the engineer to explain their plan.
A camera check after clearing can show why the drain blocked. It may reveal roots, a shifted joint or a cracked pipe. If you skip it, the blockage can return, so ask whether a camera check is worth it for your drain.
What causes blocked drains?
- Fat, oil and grease (FOG). Kitchen fats are a common cause of blockages in home drains. Hot fat poured down the sink cools and sets in the pipe. It builds up over time until the pipe blocks.
- Wet wipes and non-flushables. Wipes do not break down like toilet paper, even when the pack says flushable. Water UK advises that only pee, poo and paper should go down the toilet. Wipes can bind with grease in sewers to form fatbergs.
- Root ingress. Tree roots can grow into older pipes through weak joints. Once inside, they form a mat that catches debris and can block the pipe.
- Collapsed or deformed pipe. Old clay and pitch fibre pipes can crack, sag or collapse. This creates a partial obstruction that catches whatever passes through.
- Scale and silt build-up. Scale and silt can slowly narrow a pipe. In time, the flow slows until the drain blocks.
Drainage engineer or plumber?
Plumbers mostly work on pipes inside the building. Drainage engineers work on underground runs, gullies and inspection chambers. If the blockage is outside, or several outlets slow at once, a drainage engineer is the better first call. Even so, the right trade matters more than the label.
Signs of an underground problem include several sinks or toilets slowing together. Others are water backing up through a floor drain, gurgling from several outlets and sewage smells in the garden. Because these signs point to the shared run, the blockage is probably not in a single trap.
Who is responsible for the drain?
In England and Wales, water companies took over most private sewers and lateral drains on 1 October 2011. You usually stay responsible for the drain inside your property boundary, and for soakaways. Scotland works differently, because Scottish Water looks after public sewers while your drain inside the boundary is usually yours.
If you are not sure, ask your water company before you pay for work. A pipe that serves more than one property is often a sewer, which the water company may clear. Northern Ireland has its own rules, so check with NI Water.