Sewer Drain Blocking

[iloveglee]

We have a problem (again) with a blocked sewer drain. We had this problem a few years ago, and it was full of wet wipes along with all the other stuff that goes down there (sorry). We do not use wet wipes and never put anything down the toilet other than what should go down there. Same with the sinks, no food waste (I have a waste catcher on the sink), and never ever put grease down there.

We tried rodding it ourselves with no success and called the water company for advice. To my surprise they came, although it wasn't their responsibility. They were good enough to deal with it, and explained that the one that connects through to other houses is their responsibility and the one at the back of the house is ours.

It has happened again, and having taken up the drain cover, it seems it is, again full of wet wipes, etc. Again not of our doing. So how are we getting wipes in our drain. Our sewer pipe as it joins with others is the first (or last whichever way you look at it) on that run. In other words, it connect to the house below, but not the house above. That drain is fully clear.

There must be a very small gap in the blockage, as water will go through very slowly. If I try to send a large amount of water through, i.e. empty the bath, this floods out through the downstairs toilet. This is how we discovered there was a serious blockage.

We have plumbing etc cover through our house insurance, so have called them in. It's supposed to be emergency cover but they haven't turned up yet, or been in contact since I reported it yesterday morning. Fortunately for us a relative lives next door, so we are using her toilet.

I just don't understand how our drain is getting blocked with stuff that we didn't put down it.

[Maydup]

despite it seeming to be the first on the run, the drain must be connected to someone else….

[Maydup]

I think it’s worth getting a drain survey

[The Builder]

I agree with Maydup. If you are "head of drain", then this makes no sense.
All the drain runs need to be traced.

You mention a drain cover. This would suggest there is a branch drain down there ("Y" junction.) Do both legs of the "Y" come from your house alone?

[iloveglee]

The way the drains run on the street is, we are connected to the house next door going down the street, I believe that there are about 4 or 6 pairs of semis connected before the turn to the main sewer. Our next door neighbour going up the street is not connected to ours, but is connected to, again about 8 or 12 houses. I use the terms up and down in house numbers, not as in in uphill or downhill.

There has to be a rational explanation as to how wet wipes get into our drain, but I'm at a loss to know how. If the people who come to clear it out can't answer the question, I may have to contact the water company and see if they can a) answer the question, and b)how to stop it happening.

[The Builder]

Ok. All I can suggest at this point is to contact your Water Company and ask for the department that handles their drain mapping.

They will certainly have a sewer map, but it's also possible they may have a local drain map as well.

(Sewers are the big ones out in the middle of the road. Drains are the pipework that connects your house to the sewer.)

[Atheist]

We are in a terraced property and each house connects to a sewer along the back of the terrace, with a manhole in each garden where the connection between the house and sewer can be inspected/rodded if necessary. The sewer, which runs along through the back gardens, is the responsibility of the water company, and they come out and rod it for no charge. It happened to us once, and the blockage was apparently caused by inappropriate objects being flushed by one of the three properties upstream of us, which objects managed to pass our manhole before blocking the sewer, so we got the first symptoms of blockage.

[gingejbee]

^atheist makes a very important point....if you are part of a shared system ie other peoples' effluent passes through your drains, then all problems are the responsibility of the water company. You do not have to pay anybody, anything! (England...not sure about Wales)

[iloveglee]

We had a letter a few years ago from the water company. The part of the drain that passes between several houses is their responsibility. The part that goes into, or to the house is the householder’s responsibility.

It’s the part that goes to the house, the bit under the drain cover, which is inside the house in our case, is blocked. Our responsibility, but not caused by us as what is down there is stuff that we don’t use. Mainly wipes. That’s the mystery. How did they get there. The bit that’s the water company’s responsibility is not blocked. Next door and two doors down are not blocked.

[Hopkirk]

Perhaps it is blocking further down, causing other people's wipes to back up into your drain. When the big blockage clears, you are left with the problem.

[david small]

Exactly the same thing is now happening to my daughter. Water company came out and suggested it. Was a house a few doors up. They have Astro turf covering the drain cover. Investigation going forward.
Meanwhile, daughter can’t empty bath, or flush loo.

[iloveglee]

Having your drains blocked is a total nightmare, nothing worse. However, we had a really nice young man turned up first thing this morning, and cleared it within about half an hour.

We had a chat with him as to how wipes get into our drain, and general other things drain related. One thing he did say, is the toilet paper you can get these days is very thick and although it does break down, it requires quite a lot of flushing. Because people are on water meters, and also being conscious of wasting water, possibly enough flushing doesn't go on to properly get rid of it. As it turns out, we waste a great deal of water trying to get the hot tap to run (combi boiler), so he suggested to catch the water wasted in a bucket, and use that as an extra flush. Also, he said, if you shower rather than bath, now and again to fill a bath and let that go down. The large rush of water helps to move little clogs along.

Regarding the wipes, he said that in very heavy downpours, the sewers sometimes can't cope with the sudden onslaught of water, and it can backflow, bringing with it things that you may not put down there, but other people do, i.e. wipes. As our drain is the last one if water is backflowing, there is nowhere for it to go but down our drain. This is one of the reasons the water companies say is why they outflow sewage into rivers and the sea, rather than it coming back up the drainage system. Neither should happen if the sewage system is properly upgraded. But then, wet wipes shouldn't ever be put into the toilet, and the manufacturers should make it clear on the packaging that none of these wipes are flushable. So - rant over and on we go.

He suggested contacting the water company as he believed there is some kind of valve you can get to stop this happening. If the shared drain gets blocked it is their responsiblity to sort out. He did say also that it is good practice to hose your drains out annually to ensure any little clogs don't build up into blockages.

So my question was answered, and now we will contact the water company.

[Atheist]

Good news iloveglee.