Mystery of Drainage System

mike65

I have a strange problem to which there may be an obvious answer. The kitchen drian is smelly there is a build up of gunk. I was intending to use rod pipes to give the system a clean through. My house has one access hatch which is just outside the bathroom. I ran the tap in the kitchen and waited for water at the hatch, nothing appeared. I ran the bathroom tap and it appeared. So where is the kitchen water going? The kitchen drain has residue but is not blocked as it does'nt back up except momentarily if empting a bucket ito it. I have had a look for another hatch but there is'nt one.

Excuse the crude graphic

1 - kitchen sink drain
2 - brthroom sink
3 - inspection hatch
4 - WC
? - direction of kitchen drain.



Mike.

311

Your water flow is heading to the right. So you wont see your kitchen waste through the hatch .

More than likely your kitchen waste is run into the rainwater pipe system.
You'll probably need to locate a manhole at the back of the house, it's hard to tell where it would be though ,without actually being at your house.

It could well be in your neighbours garden.

I managed to unblock a waste like yours ,with a lenght of qualpex. It was an emergency at the time ,as there wasn't any rods and the water was about to enter the house.

mike65

I had a glance over the neighbours wall and can't see any access points. There is no hatch in the garden as far as I can tell and as garden slightly slopes upwards as it goes away from the house its unlikely to be there.

Mike.

311

You'd probably be best off to try unblocking at the source. Get a plastic bag and cover your hand ,get stuck in and take all the gunge out.

It might be just hardened fat and other niceties

Edit : manholes are usually every 4 or so houses ,if the lie of the land is rising from the back of the house ,then the manholes are probably at the rear of the house ,in the pathway.

crosstownk

_Brian_ wrote:

More than likely your kitchen waste is run into the rainwater pipe system.

Should the kitchen waste not run into the foul pipe rather than the storm drain? In a lot of cases the storm drain flows to the local river. Maybe I'm misinformed, but that's what I've been led to believe.

mike65

Having already done the manual excavation thing (smelly!) I've decided to go the chemistry route - baking soda + vinegar = reaction. Hot vinegar can equal explosion so I won't try that!

Mike.

311

crosstownk wrote:

Should the kitchen waste not run into the foul pipe rather than the storm drain? In a lot of cases the storm drain flows to the local river. Maybe I'm misinformed, but that's what I've been led to believe.

It depends crosstown ,shouldn't be taken for granted though. In a lot of cases the rainwater at the back is used to take the kitchen waste.
Sometimes the rainwater goes into the sewer system.

I've actually had to make manholes in back gardens myself ,to facilitate a under stairs toilet. When you get involved in stuff like that ,you get to see all sorts of stuff:eek:

mike65

Update! I got hold of some steel wire and used that to loosen the fat deposits as much as possible then I used the vinegar/soda solution both in the outside drain and the pipe u bend. It seems to have done the trick, pity about the way some smells seem to cling to the paintwork.

Mike.

311

mike65 wrote:

Update! I got hold of some steel wire and used that to loosen the fat deposits as much as possible then I used the vinegar/soda solution both in the outside drain and the pipe u bend. It seems to have done the trick, pity about the way some smells seem to cling to the paintwork.

Mike.

A steel coat hanger is a great utility around the house ,just unwind it and use it as an unblocker.

Also ,twist the end that goes into the drain and wrap tape around it making a ball at the end.

mike65

/me slaps forehead

Mike.

311

mike65 wrote:

/me slaps forehead

Mike.

Sorry mike ,i was going to post it before ,but it's 12+ hour days at the moment.
Coat hangers are great for everything ,I unblocked a toilet at a party once in someones house with one :eek:
I will find the name for a great unblocker for sinks etc ,inside the house and post the name of it ,it's amazing what it will do.

GreeBo

For me the best multi-use object is a length of qualpex.
Handy for drains as its stiff enough to push a good length
great for fishing wires beihnd plasterboard too (and safer than a wire hanger)