Several things can cause sewage overflows, but typically it is due to a blockage or obstruction in your sewer drains or a lack of regular drain cleaning. These result in eventual overflow when the wastewater cannot flow through the drains. The most common ways they happen include some internal and external factors like:
- Fats, oils, and grease can build up your pipes and cause blockages.
- Tree roots: These can grow into your pipes.
- Toilet paper: If you flush too much toilet paper down the toilet, it can cause a blockage.
- Sanitary products: These can cause blockages if they are flushed down the toilet.
- Foreign objects: If you flush anything other than toilet paper and human waste down the toilet, it can cause a blockage.
Other Causes and Useful Prevention Methods
If your drains are overflowing, it’s important to immediately take care of the problem. Overflowing drains can lead to more serious problems, such as leaks, overflows, or electrical damage. Our specialist drainage engineers are available 24 hours a day to help you with your problem.
You can determine useful prevention methods by asking yourself these questions first:
- Where is it located? If your drain is blocked, it is likely because something prevents water from flowing through it properly. This may be due to a build-up of leaves or other debris outside or a blockage caused by something flushed down the drain indoors.
- What kind of drain is it? If you’re having problems with a drain in your toilet or bathroom, it’s likely because of the things you’re flushing down the toilet. If it’s a kitchen drain, it could be because of food particles, grease, and other debris that gets washed into the pipes from your kitchen sink or washing machine. These can cause significant blockages that might require the help of a professional drainage engineer.
Or, you could just avoid regular drain cleaning, which also keeps debris stuck there.
Once you’ve answered these questions, here’s how you can unclog kitchen, bathroom, and outdoor drains:
- Kitchen: The best way to prevent blocked drains is to be careful about what goes down them. In the kitchen, this means cleaning plates before putting them in the sink and using soap and detergent to break down grease and oil from cooking. Don’t pour grease directly down the drain; if possible, pour it into a container and wait for it to cool before throwing it in the trash. If you must pour it into the drain, always follow with a blast of cold water to solidify the grease and stop it from sticking to pipes.
- Bathroom: Don’t drop foreign objects like hair grips down drains because they’ll quickly collect other debris and cause a blockage. Throw nappies, tampons, face wipes, and cotton wool in the bin instead of flushing them down toilets, where they might get stuck in narrow pipes and cause an overflow. Be stingy with toilet paper to avoid clogging the drains.
- Outdoor: Keep all kinds of nature-related debris and waste away from the drains. They can gather with even a mild amount of moisture or humidity over time.
Let Professor Plumb Take a Look at Your Drains
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