Rod Gully

allycavs

Hi Guys

I had some work done on a drive way for storm drainage. the storm drainage taps into the sewage system. The lads put in a rod gully which I was delighted with. Im not stranger to rodding from a manhole but i cant seem to rod this gully. The first rod gets stuck on a s light bend but with some force goes through. The second rod gets stuck then and to me it seems the gully has a bend on it. Im even wondering is the rod gully is tapped into the sewage. Alls I know is the rod gully should be tapping into a T junction. Can anyone please advice?

Thanks
Alan

sky6

For a start surface Water should not be run into the sewage system, it's against regs. More importantly it will create problems if you're on a septic tank. The Tanks will fill to quickly and causing sewage to back up.
As to the Gully fitted , hard to know without seeing a picture of it.

K.Flyer

Its not unusual to find the surface drains and the foul to be sharing a common outflow on an old property before the modern regs came in.

sky6

I agree it was acceptable before regs came in. But the op said it was a new Storm Drain in which case it should have been connected to the surface water drain or ran to a soak pit.
I think the gulley referred to by the op is just a plain gully to prevent smells coming back from the sewer. Not suitable for rodding because of bends.

allycavs

Attached is a pic. back yard storm drain was tapped into sewage drain. there was no front storm drainage. no septic tank. live in an urban area.

K.Flyer

What you have there is called a "gully-trap" which has a bend at the bottom of it similar to the bend in a toilet bowl. As Sky6 says they are not suitable for rodding through because of the steep bend, which is designed to trap dirt from going into the main system.
Why are you trying to rod through it?

corkplumber

+1.there is a swan neck on them not for rodding. that should connect to an aj or similar for rodding.

scudo2

Ye all sure he has a gully trap?

I know that's the obvious answer, but as orignal poster said he had trouble with the first rod on a slight bend and gets stuck on the second rod.
1th bend a bottom of gully trap is 135 degrees ( ie. One hell of a sharp bend)

Isn't a rod 3' long? X 2

sky6

Correct that's exactly what it is a Gully Trap. Would you believe while writing at 2am I couldn't think of the word Trap Despite fitting 2 of them yesterday.
Don't know if it's the heat or the old grey matter fading. Probably the latter.
Question now is why do you need to Rod frequently. Are you at the end of the run of Houses before the Manhole. As these Houses tend to suffer the most if the MH is blocked. Maybe the mh needs to be rodded or jetted.
Be careful if you involve the L C they could insist on your Drain being corrected by them at your expense.

allycavs

Hey Guys

sorry i havent checked in. I used to have to rod frequently. Im hoping not now after extensive work. part of this extensive work was putting in storm drainage. There is a grey cap in the picture i was told i could rod from there if need be.

So the guys that did the work lied to me. What is the point of the grey cap?

first rod goes through. second rod get stuck at about a foot. so theres 4 feet of rods getting inside the cap., im presuming LC is local Council?

Thanks
Alan

sky6

Yes LC is local Council.
Also in your Photo what is the little Gully Grate with the Weeds growing out of it for. If it's surface Water then that is the Drain they should have connected into. Also if it has Weeds growing then it needs to be cleaned and the Gully may be broken as it should be holding Water.
You can trace where the drains run to by pouring some milk down the Drain and maybe lift any Manholes to see if you can spot the milk.

If your Rodding frequently then clearly there is a problem that needs to be sorted.

allycavs

The grate with weeds doesn't go anywhere. its just dug into the ground. The other grate and gtey cap do flew into sewage. But what is that gray cap for? is it a rodding eye? i just wasnt to know what it is and what its purpose is

the work was done and i believe i will no longer have to rod but the lads that did teh work told me they will put something in place so i can rod from driveway. i liked that idea. i was only testing it the grey cap and realize i couldnt rod?

sky6

To answer your question, I don't know without seeing what the Grey disc is for. Could it be a saddle back connector which they intended to use for Rodding.
Is there a makers name on it. ? Does it go directly into the sewer.?
The Gully they left you is really only for collecting surface Water.

allycavs

Ill check makers name tomorrow. the grey disc goes to sewer i poored water down there. the gully is only to collect surface its what i wanted. the grey disc i was told is for rodding. Theres a third seperate gully for collecting surface water not in picture. as far as i know they all tap into a T junction which goes to sewer. The sewer pipe runs between grey disc and small red step in pic.

allycavs

Ill check makers name tomorrow. the grey disc goes to sewer i poored water down there. the gully is only to collect surface its what i wanted. the grey disc i was told is for rodding. Theres a third seperate gully for collecting surface water not in picture. as far as i know they all tap into a T junction which goes to sewer. The sewer pipe runs between grey disc and small red step in pic.

sky6

T hat all makes more sense now. Can you Rod through the Grey Cap. You should follow the flow to the Manhole. Then you will know where you can also Rod it back the other way.

allycavs

I can only get 1 rod fully in and second one half way approx from the cap. And that would be roughly where T hat or sewage pipe is as pipe is deep down (driveway runs down hill from the road). i think the lads botched the job somehow and the rod hits a bend or a kink. why does this make more sense. if your assumption is right should i be able to rod from the cap and what would jam the rods (eg potential bend?) Thanks for all your help btw

sky6

I think you're right they did botch the job. From what you say it seems they
just picked a spot to put the Gulley and Eye in without checking the run and lie of the pipework. The cleaning eye although working is too close to the main sewer Tee or Branch. Which is why the Rods are hitting the back of it.
I think your only option now is to open it up at the Tee or Branch where they meet and put an AJ in there. That will let you rod in all 3 directions.
Generally there is between 2 and 6 houses connected between Manholes.
The Houses nearest the M/H usually are the ones who suffer the problems.
As they are at the lower end of the Fall in the Drain.
It may be worth checking with your neighbours to see if any of them are suffering similar problems. If they are then you could get it Jetted to clear any blockage and agree to share the price. Barring a broken pipe this should leave it right for years to come.

allycavs

Ok so i cant use that cap. thats a shame but its not the end of the world. i have a power hose attachment that will go down there if i ever do need to but its not as good as rodding.

thanks for you help and patience. I believe the problem to be fixed anyway - there was other extensive work done that was to solve the issue with me having to rod approx every 2 months.

sky6

Yes that's a pity when you have the eye there. But at least you can give it a blast anytime you're washing the Car. That should hopefully prevent your problem reappearing.
Best of luck with it.