Top 5 Most Common Causes of Drain Blockages
It can be a real pain and inconvenience when you have blocked drains anywhere inside or outside your house, as bad smells will begin to linger and you might even get waste water flowing back into your home. There can be many reasons that you’re drains get blocked; you might even feel like you take good care of your drains, but it happens to everyone at some point. Here are our five most common causes of drain blockages to help you work out what is wrong with your drain.
Autumn leaves
This is a common reason people end up with blocked or backed-up drains, and it is totally out of your control so you may not realise until it is too late. Despite it being winter now, there are still leaves falling and blowing around our suburbs and cities. If you can, it might be a good idea to sweep away and collect up all the dead leaves around your property, this will minimise the chances of them getting stuck in the drains and guttering surrounding your home. Take special care to keep drain grates clear of foliage to ensure the smooth flow of water.
Toiletries
To most people it would seem obvious that you shouldn’t flush certain items down the toilet, but it happens all too often. Only toilet paper will break down in a flush – though even too much of that can be damaging. Things such as sanitary towels and moist towelettes will only serve to clog up your pipes and make a base for other things to attach themselves onto.
Grease and fat
You’ve probably heard about Fatberg by now, and it is this nightmarish scenario that we need to try and avoid. By pouring excessive amounts of fat and grease down the kitchen sink we give our pipes an unhealthy coating of sticky mess. This mess then clings onto any other debris hurtling down the system causing an eventual blockage. In London, the council had to spend a great deal of money to remove the giant blob of fat, grease and paper towels to stop waste water bursting up through the drains.
Hair
A single hair is not a problem for the drains in your home, but if you can imagine how much hair an entire family (particularly if several people have long hair) can produce in a short space of time then it’s a very different story. The tangle of hair may not be visible outside the drain, but if you lift out the cover in your shower you will surely see a huge fur ball lodged inside. A ball of hair is a very effective way of slowing down the draining of your water.
Foreign objects
Common sense would tell you that putting anything other than water and tissue paper down your toilets or drains will result in a blockage at some point, but people still do it. It’s not just children either; adults have been known to put all manner of things down the toilet in an attempt to flush them away. Even things such as chunky food scraps in your kitchen sink should be a no-no.
If you have a drain blockage and need a drain CCTV survey in Central London, then give 1st Call Drain Clearance & Technical Services a call today. We have the tools and the expertise to get your drains flowing again to prevent disaster in your home.