What Makes Household Drains to Block?
At first, you may feel that the problem in your household drain is minor. Therefore, you may not treat it with the seriousness it deserves. However, you should know that it is these simple issues that become more serious.
A blocked drain comes with serious problems. First, the slow flow of water means that you may soon begin to experience flooding within your household. The water may lead to corrosion of your household items. If you wait until it is too late, you may have to part with a lot of money to take care of the cost of repairs.
What causes a clog in the household drain? Here are the most important factors that you should learn about and prevent where possible:
- Hair
Most people assume that hair is too small and may not cause any blockage in your household drain. However, you should understand that the pieces accumulate. After some time, this slows down the flow of water in the drain. It gets to a point where the water fails to pass altogether.
How do you ensure that hair doesn’t block your household drain? First, you can have guards in your drain so that they can catch hair and prevent them from accumulating. Alternatively, you should always check the plughole and remove any hair that may block your household drain.
- Root Pieces
The underground pipes that supply water to your house may have cracks. A root may grow through this space. With time, this small root becomes bigger and it may get to a point where it damages the pipe or prevents it from performing its function of allowing water passage.
It is not an easy task to clear roots in your pies. You may need the assistance of professionals to work on that. They can help you to monitor the situation in your underground water pipes periodically. That way, you can avoid spending a lot of money for repairs if/when something goes wrong.
- Mineral build-up within the household drain
Hard water has a lot of minerals. The insoluble materials can accumulate and block your drain. It can result in flooding around your household.
What are the solutions that can work in this case? If your area experiences the challenge of hard water, you need to install a water softener. Besides, you can consult a professional who can help you to remove the sediments periodically.
- Fats and Greece
One thing you should know about fatty substances is that they always stick-on surfaces. As you wash utensils in the sink, the fatty substances attach themselves to the pipes. They accumulate and block your drain after a while. They prevent water from passing through the pipes.
How do you prevent drainage through fats? Don’t wash every liquid down your drain. Find a better way of dealing with fatty dishes.
- Accumulation of foreign objects
One foreign object may not necessarily block your household drain. However, these materials always accumulate. After some time, they prevent the free flow of water. The materials being referred to in this case include soaps and other sanitary products.
You should be cautious about items that go down the toilet. Some of them cause this blockage. Monitor where your children place their toys. You may accidentally flush them down your toilet.
- Toiletries
It is common knowledge that toilet paper is designed to be flushed down the toilet. However, that may not be the case when they are used in excess. The pieces can accumulate and obstruct your drainage pipes.
Another item that you should be cautious about is how you handle a baby’s nappy. Such items shouldn’t be disposed of in the toilet. Unlike toilet paper, water can’t make it disperse. Therefore, it ends up blocking your household drainage.
