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Our sewer Blocked up!

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  • 20-03-2014 12:56am
    #1
    Missyelliot2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,472 ✭✭✭


    My OH spent Saturday trying to unblock sewage drain:(

    Anyway, got guy out today who sent a camera down and said that the problem was due the toilet paper that was used!!!

    Apparently (according to this man) Aldi and Lidl have toilet paper have extremely strong ply and doesn't decompose!
    I realise this sounds ridiculous.......but if anybody has any experience of this, please do confess.

    I was told that if toilet paper is placed in a glass and that after 30 seconds, the toilet paper doesn't decompose - it will block the drain.

    I have 3 boys, who probably don't use a major amount of loo roll:o, but I was told to flush the empty loos every night.
    It all sounds fairly c%^& - excuse the pun!


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    #2
    dpofloinn
    Registered Users Posts: 744 ✭✭✭dpofloinn


    Who ever told you that was talking out of their ass, unless you are flushing entire rolls down the toilet every time you use it.The most common reasons for sewers blocking are (in no particular order)


    Incorrect gradient on pipe work, either the pipe is too steep in which case the water will run off but will leave the solids in the pipe. Or there is a backflow in the pipe and the water and solids cant flow away.

    Incorrectly sized pipework where multiple appliances might be trying to use one narrow sewer which cannot take the volume

    Multiple sharp bends,breaks, rough edges on pipe joins on the pipework which will slow down and catch solids as they pass by eventually blocking the pipe

    Breaks in pipework where tree roots have broken in and created blockages

    And last but not least things like grease,domestic waste, nappies etc being purposefully disposed of via the toilet/AJ/Manhole

    This not an exhaustive list, but it is the most common causes for blockages


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    #3
    livingthedream
    Registered Users Posts: 202 ✭✭livingthedream


    FWIW,

    My house is at the end of a row of houses and as a result I have an inspection manhole in my back garden. On a couple of occasions over the past few years the drain has backed up to the manhole cover in my garden and I have had to get DynoRod or the like out to unblock.

    On each occasion the guy that did the unblocking put it down to people flushing baby wipes down the toilet.....

    After the second occasion I dropped a 'friendly' note into everyones letterbox asking them to avoid doing this as I didn't want my garden flooded with their faeces and touch wood, it hasn't been an issue since....

    ~LTD.


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    #4
    stoneill
    Registered Users Posts: 3,610 ✭✭✭stoneill


    dpofloinn wrote: »
    Who ever told you that was talking out of their ass, unless you are flushing entire rolls down the toilet every time you use it.The most common reasons for sewers blocking are (in no particular order)

    Actually he is correct, the "luxury" toilet tissues don't dissolve as quickly as other form of toilet tissue. And if you have multiple persons all flushing away all day as kid do, then it can easily cause a block.

    This is why you don't flush wet wipes, kleenex, and other forms of wipes.


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    #5
    bbam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭bbam


    dpofloinn wrote: »
    Who ever told you that was talking out of their ass, unless you are flushing entire rolls down the toilet every time you use it.The most common reasons for sewers blocking are (in no particular order)


    Incorrect gradient on pipe work, either the pipe is too steep in which case the water will run off but will leave the solids in the pipe. Or there is a backflow in the pipe and the water and solids cant flow away.

    Incorrectly sized pipework where multiple appliances might be trying to use one narrow sewer which cannot take the volume

    Multiple sharp bends,breaks, rough edges on pipe joins on the pipework which will slow down and catch solids as they pass by eventually blocking the pipe

    Breaks in pipework where tree roots have broken in and created blockages

    And last but not least things like grease,domestic waste, nappies etc being purposefully disposed of via the toilet/AJ/Manhole

    This not an exhaustive list, but it is the most common causes for blockages

    I'd say yes and no..

    My parents house the sewerege was done in the 1970's.
    The fall from the house in one place in particular sank and there is a slight dip in the pipe..

    Now, it works fine. but mam finds that indeed if they buy stronger better quality rolls that they cause problems. If she uses cheaper easier to disintegrate stuff its not a problem..
    So an underlying problem as you describe above seems to leave people with a marginal problem which is exasperated by the roll type used.

    Its easier to stick to the suitable toilet roll than redig the whole yard..


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    #6
    Missyelliot2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,472 ✭✭✭Missyelliot2


    Thanks to all for your replies! I spoke to a builder this morning and he said the ground under the pipe seems to have sunk marginally, which is causing the backup. I'm still dubious about the toilet roll - the kids are at school til after 4, so the most that toilet could be used is maybe 10 times a day! There are no wipes etc - just bog standard bog roll!

    Did a few loo roll experiments here and the Nicki brand (from Tesco) is the most decomposable!


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    #7
    rick_fantastic
    Registered Users Posts: 910 ✭✭✭rick_fantastic


    baby wipes are a demon on the pipes. have this problem all the time, if there is any sinking or rough part in the pipe (really bad with the ceramic pipes from the 70/80's) then they will get blocked.

    invested in a set of sewer rods for when it happens, not a pleasant 10mins but never have to call drain "experts"


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    #8
    Missyelliot2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,472 ✭✭✭Missyelliot2


    rick_fantastic wrote: »
    baby wipes are a demon on the pipes. have this problem all the time, if there is any sinking or rough part in the pipe (really bad with the ceramic pipes from the 70/80's) then they will get blocked.

    invested in a set of sewer rods for when it happens, not a pleasant 10mins but never have to call drain "experts"

    I feel your pain....Saturday was the sewer rod day chez moi! :rolleyes:


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    #9
    jack of all
    Registered Users Posts: 2,366 ✭✭✭jack of all


    Baby wipes and the likes are definitely a problem for sewers and I'd imagine that they are a source of problems further down the line at the treatment plant. Have you ruled out any grease build up? I had a bad blockage in the drains in my own house about 10 years ago and even though I thought I was pretty diligent about disposing of grease and fat properly this was the cause of the blockage. I now always wipe out any frying pans, grill trays and oven dishes etc with kitchen towel (which is then disposed of in the bin!) before washing and I've never had a problem in the past 10 years.


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    #10
    dpofloinn
    Registered Users Posts: 744 ✭✭✭dpofloinn


    stoneill wrote: »
    Actually he is correct, the "luxury" toilet tissues don't dissolve as quickly as other form of toilet tissue. And if you have multiple persons all flushing away all day as kid do, then it can easily cause a block.

    This is why you don't flush wet wipes, kleenex, and other forms of wipes.


    Yes it is true that toilet paper can cause blockages,but it is not the root cause of the problem.The toilet paper is merely the material that causes the blockage the issue is with the pipework. It is also true of wet wipes etc they contribute to blockages too, but they create a bigger issue further down stream where they block the the impellars of submersible pumps at sewage pumping stations


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    #11
    Xantia
    Registered Users Posts: 682 ✭✭✭Xantia


    You have to replace/remove the Buchan Trap

    In many cases there is a Buchan trap on the drain prior to its connection with the public sewer. These
    traps are intended to prevent smells and also rodents coming from the main sewer. Unfortunately these
    traps are susceptible to blockage.


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    #12
    solargain
    Registered Users Posts: 330 ✭✭solargain


    I would have to agree on the toilet paper quality , found that the Lidl stuff does block or fail to decompose , we have a cottage next to our house that only gets used occasionally , 6 months ago there was a gang staying that bought some of the lidl toilet paper , it was still lodged in the pipe work 4 months after they left & nobody else was there since . You need to keep the system well flushed


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    #13
    Naux
    Registered Users Posts: 335 ✭✭Naux


    Missyelliot2 wrote: »
    Thanks to all for your replies! I spoke to a builder this morning and he said the ground under the pipe seems to have sunk marginally, which is causing the backup. I'm still dubious about the toilet roll - the kids are at school til after 4, so the most that toilet could be used is maybe 10 times a day! There are no wipes etc - just bog standard bog roll!

    Did a few loo roll experiments here and the Nicki brand (from Tesco) is the most decomposable!

    Are you sure about there being no wipes..........I had similar problem and my wife swore there were no wipes going down the toilets until I pulled them out of the blocked pipes to show her. Kiddies were at various stages: being toilet trained, experimenting with mammys makeup etc etc and they were the ones using wipes.


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    #14
    RainyDay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,925 ✭✭✭RainyDay


    rick_fantastic wrote: »
    baby wipes are a demon on the pipes. have this problem all the time, if there is any sinking or rough part in the pipe (really bad with the ceramic pipes from the 70/80's) then they will get blocked.
    What about toilet wipes? Given that these are made for use on the loo, can I reasonably expect that they are safe to flush?


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    #15
    Missyelliot2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,472 ✭✭✭Missyelliot2


    Naux wrote: »
    Are you sure about there being no wipes..........I had similar problem and my wife swore there were no wipes going down the toilets until I pulled them out of the blocked pipes to show her. Kiddies were at various stages: being toilet trained, experimenting with mammys makeup etc etc and they were the ones using wipes.

    Absolutely.....nobody here buys wipes, so can rule that out. But thanks for the suggestion


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    #16
    solargain
    Registered Users Posts: 330 ✭✭solargain


    A lot of those wipes don't disintegrate in septic tanks


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