Signs of clogged sewage
Before you think about how to clean the sewer, you need to identify the causes of blockage and the place of its formation. Obstacles to the normal discharge of water can form in the form of accumulations of lime, grease, or inorganic objects (paper, rags).
Signs of clogging will help to deal with the problem. So, the need for taking measures to clean the pipes is confirmed by the following symptoms:
- unpleasant odor detected in the area of the drain holes in the bathroom or in the kitchen;
- water flows out of the sink or bath at a slower rate than before;
- the water level when flushing the toilet bowl exceeds the usual level.
If at least one sign is found, measures should be taken. Clogging of sewer pipes occurs for the following reasons:
- grease frozen on the inner walls of the pipes narrows the working diameter. Remains of food, hair, debris stick to the fat layer, as a result of which the passage is completely clogged;
- solid inorganic sedimentation inside the pipe. Often such blockages appear in places where the installation height of the pipes in the transition elbows changes;
- in addition to grease, soapy solution or residues of detergent from the machine may settle on the inner walls. Together with food waste, soap lingers on the inner surface, forming a cork;
- severe contaminants are formed during the interaction of fat accumulations inside the pipes and hair or animal hair that fall into the drain holes. Such blockages are removed only by chemicals or by mechanical action;
- violations in the installation of sewer pipes in an apartment or autonomous system. An insufficient drainage slope angle provokes fluid retention in separate areas where accumulation of food, fat and debris remains;
- hard water is often the cause of blockages. Excess lime in such water is deposited on the walls of the pipes, gradually reducing the working diameter. Effectively dealing with this process is difficult, usually you have to completely change the pipes;
- discharge of large organic and inorganic objects into the toilet also leads to blockages in the riser. Food waste and poor quality toilet paper should be disposed of in another way;
- in autonomous systems, external factors can affect sewer pipes. Tree roots, rodents, soil movements contribute to disruption of normal operation.
Determination of clogging site
To decide how to clean the sewer pipes at home, you need to find out the cause of the problem and find the place of its localization. To do this, shed individual sections of the pipeline.
Check start with the toilet. If the liquid leaks without problems when releasing the toilet flush, they go to the bathroom.
If the liquid from the bathroom goes well, move to the kitchen. Here, a blockage is traditionally formed in the siphon, but it is also possible to accumulate waste in the pipe connecting the drain from the kitchen sink and the main sewer pipe.
If the liquid does not drain at all, but flows from the sink to the bathroom or raises the level in the toilet, the problem is in the common house system - the riser is clogged.
When a problem occurs in a private building with a separate septic tank, the water level in the receiving pit or septic tank is first checked. If it does not exceed the permissible level, then there is a problem in the sewer pipes at the exit from the cottage.
Especially unpleasant is the situation when a rag or other object gets stuck in the main sewer riser of an apartment building, at a level just below your floor. Then all the sewage from the apartments of the upper floors will fall into your sewage system, splash over the edge.
In this case, you will have to call plumbers with special equipment. It is not possible to fix this problem yourself.
Methods for cleaning sewer pipes
Descriptions of the following options for dealing with blockages will help you figure out how to clean the sewer pipe yourself, using traditional tools and mechanisms.
Vent plunger cleaning
You can quickly eliminate clogging with the help of a plunger, which can easily cope with non-essential seals in the sewage system.
Water is collected in the drain hole of the sink or bath, then the rubber part of the plunger is pressed tightly, closing the hole. When working with a plunger, the main thing is to achieve a tight fixation of the rubber, to prevent leaks and air.
Having achieved the desired position, proceed to cleaning the pipe. For this, sharp translational movements of the plunger handle to the drain hole are performed.
To break through the blockage, you need to do at least ten clicks. For the final cleaning of the pipe, the procedure is carried out 2-3 times.
Mechanical cleaning
For mechanical cleaning of sewers in a private house or apartment, special equipment is used. In this case, it will be difficult to independently perform the work, since most likely it will be necessary to partially dismantle the pipes.
The mechanical method eliminates blockages with a low degree of hardness.
Hydrodynamic cleaning
Hydrodynamic cleaning of sewage is carried out using special equipment that provides high-pressure water supply. At home or in a country house, you can use the installation for washing the car "Karcher".
Hydrodynamic cleaning of the sewage system is carried out by a powerful stream of water, which breaks through the blockage, taking the remaining pollution into the riser. This method allows you to qualitatively clean the inner surface of the pipe.
Due to the complexity of these works, as well as the need to use special equipment, the method is used to eliminate serious blockages. To clean the sewer with the hydrodynamic method, specialists are most often called.
Cable use
To clean the sewer with a cable, do the following:
- Find the inspection plug designed to clean the pipes. If there is no such plug, the cable is inserted through the pipe in the kitchen, after unscrewing the siphon.
- Before cleaning, the cable is folded into a skein. So it will be more convenient to gradually promote it inside the sewer.
- The end of the cable is inserted into the inspection hole or into the pipe in the kitchen. While pushing the cable, it is pushed into the depths of the pipe.
- In order to clean well not only the clogging place, but also the inner surface of the sewer pipe, during the pushing of the cable it must be turned clockwise around its axis. To do this, a handle is provided at the end of the cable.
- In the process of cleaning the pipe, the cable is periodically removed and freed from adhering particles of dirt and grease. By pulling the cable, they perform a reverse rotation movement, counterclockwise.
- Clean the pipes with a cable at least three times.
- After removing all large particles from the walls, rinse the pipes with a large volume of hot water.
Rinse with boiling water
A popular way to quickly clean pipes from accumulated fat and food debris. To effectively process the inner surface of the pipes, you will need:
- boiling water in a volume of at least 10 liters;
- 400 grams of baking soda.
Soda is dissolved in boiling water, after which a homemade product can be poured through a drain in the kitchen or bathroom into the sewer.
To enhance the effect of hot water, it is recommended to use a plunger, pumping fluid under pressure inside the pipes.
When using a plunger, plug the overflow hole. A gloved hand is superimposed on the overflow and blocks the path of water waste.
Chemistry use
Chemicals for pipe cleaning include caustic soda (Mole, Tiret). This compound corrodes plugs from the remains of food, hair and fat. The solution must be poured into the drain hole in the kitchen or bath and left for the time specified in the instructions. After the pipes are flushed with a stream of hot water.
In some cases, when a chemical product is developed on the basis of hydrochloric acid, the solution must be diluted in a certain proportion with water.
Soda Cleaning
To dissolve fat in the pipes using ordinary baking soda. This cheap tool helps to cope with blockages in the siphon without parsing it. It is necessary to fill 100 grams of soda in the drain hole and pour boiling water over it. Fat, under the influence of boiling water and soda, will dissolve, freeing the passage for draining.
This method also helps to get rid of the unpleasant odor in the siphon.
If the blockage is deeper, prepare a special solution of soda and water. Before preparing the solution, the soda needs to be heated in a pan. To prepare an alkaline mixture based on soda ash you will need:
- baking soda -150 grams;
- water - 200 ml.
Soda is heated in a pan or baking sheet for 15 minutes. After the smoke begins to form above the powder, heating is stopped. This process turns baking soda into calcined.
The powder should cool to room temperature, after which it is mixed with water. The finished solution is poured into the drain hole for 20-30 minutes. After the pipe you need to rinse with hot water.
In addition to baking soda, at home, aqueous solutions with vinegar and salt can be used, but they are less effective. The use of caustic soda to clean the sewer at home is not recommended. This reagent is used in industrial plants.
The choice of the best method depending on the place of clogging
The cleaning method depends on where the blockage occurred.
Upon occurrence siphon blockage they use mechanical cleaning, namely, they disassemble the device itself, remove dirt, rinse and install it back.
Small blockages inside the sewer pipe The apartment is eliminated with the help of a plunger or chemicals. You can also use the hydrodynamic method.
If inside the pipes in the apartment appeared strong fat deposits, a mechanical cable cleaning is required.
When arise large blockages in the riser, it will be correct to call plumbers with special equipment for mechanical cleaning of the blockage.
Clog Prevention Methods
Sewer pipes will always clog, as Accumulation of fats and food waste inside the pipes cannot be completely avoided. But there are rules to prevent large blockages. To keep the pipes clean, the following preventive maintenance is required periodically:
- Protective plastic nets must be installed on the drain holes in the bathtub and kitchen. Removable nets will hold large particles of food and dirt, hair. Such a trap is easy to clean and put back into place. This is the easiest way to keep your sewer riser in order;
- Do not pour oily waste into the drain hole after frying. Before washing such dishes, you need to fill it with hot water, add detergent and let stand for 10-15 minutes. After that, the dishes are rinsed with hot water and washed;
- After washing dishes with an abundance of oily residues, do not let cold water through. Fat settles on the walls of the pipes and, if it is not washed with hot water, it hardens and contributes to the accumulation of other waste. As a result, traffic jams form;
- the owner himself must periodically clean the autonomous sewer system using chemical washes or caustic. Preventive cleaning will help protect the system from major blockages;
- an unpleasant odor from the drain holes warns of accumulation of waste on the walls of the pipes or in the siphon. The smell will stand if you do not clean the pipes using chemical means or folk methods;
- in a stand-alone sewer, toilet paper should not be thrown into the toilet. Only natural waste should enter the septic tank.