Waste Pipe Crud !!

[IUK]

Hi, i wonder if anyone here has a solution to this.. My 40mm waste pipe runs about 5m from the kitchen sink to the soil pipe, the fall seems adequate (approx 1 inch in every metre). After about 18 months of a new pipe install i had slow moving drainage (v.slow) so i decided to put in an access point about 3 metres in, to make it easy for getting the snake in. So i cut the pipe and had a good look, all the crud sticks to the roof of the pipe (about 1 third of the pipe in total) it's a white/greyish matter, and some of it is actually rock solid, like little friggin rocks, no wonder i'm having problems. I can clear it all out with the snake etc., but how to prevent this build up in future? I usually stick some bleach down the sink every few days but this clearly doesnt do the trick for stopping the crud build up! Any one experience this? Don't fancy having to snake the pipes every 18 months! Right now it's soaking in Lye based drain clearer, i'm ready to just cut it all out and put in new pipe!
Cheers

 

[gas4you]

Its not some old tile cement or grout that you had forgotten you had washed down the sink is it

 

[IUK]

Haha no, it's definately food-based!

 

[Bahco]

! Right now it's soaking in Lye based drain clearer,

For £3 a length you could spash out and replace it.

I'm ready to just cut it all out and put in new pipe!

Ooh you are a spendthrift aren't you

 

[IUK]

! Right now it's soaking in Lye based drain clearer,

For £3 a length you could spash out and replace it.

I'm ready to just cut it all out and put in new pipe!

Ooh you are a spendthrift aren't you

I know what an idiot, I spent 10 quid on drain cleaner and i left it overnight and it's done **** all! Already got the new pipe to replace it... But really i wanted to try the cleaner first because i want to prevent this from happening again, replacing the pipes every 18 months is not the way forward hahaha.. I have to dismantle the kitchen worktop and cupboards! So really, no-one has experienced this?

 

[Bahco]

Use a sink strainer that fits into the plug hole and traps some of the large food debris.

BTW the crud sounds like it is washing powder!

 

[IUK]

Use a sink strainer that fits into the plug hole and traps some of the large food debris.

BTW the crud sounds like it is washing powder!

Yes it looks a bit like washing powder, although we only use liquid detergents in the washing machine, and the W/machine only joins the waste pipe about 3 meteres after the sink on its way to the stack (i live in a flat BTW, the iron soil pipe is in the middle of the building not an outside wall)... Also we have a strainer for the sink, it's not really large bits of food, it seems like its a gradual build up of small peices, oil, fats etc being washed off plates/cups.. The bottom half of the pipe is relatively clear, as that is where the water washes through, but the water doesn't reach the top of the pipe, and so this crud builds up there, although i really don't understand how, if the water never goes to the 'roof' of the pipe, where this crud sediment is actually coming from, unless it 'vapours' up from the water and clings on!
Well the story so far is, i stuck down some Instant Power Heavy Duty Drain Opener, left it overnight and it didn't work. So i rinsed it out as best i could, now i've just cut into a section of pipe where i suspect the main block is... And the things is HISSING at me as i started to cut into it... I'm gonna leave it an hour or so to calm down before i go back and finish it.. LOL

 

[IUK]

OK here are some pictures, is it any wonder it was a slow drain?

Notice in the first pic, the sediment on the top of the pipe. The second picture is 4m from the sink, it's TOTALLY blocked.

 

[JohnD]

how revolting

it would be useful to find out what the blockage is.

carve out as much as you can and put it in a pan with clean fresh water, boil it.

see if it dissolves like soap powder or (as I suspect) separates out into bacon fat or similar.

if so we can talk about improved kitchen/washing up practices.

 

[IUK]

The really thick blockage in the 2nd picture may well be bacon/meat fats, as that section of pipe is over 20 years old and there has been various people renting the place in that time, so who knows what they shoved down the sink. In the first picture, that is new pipework installed in the last 18 months, and we are both non-meat eaters, so it can only be vegetable waste, chip fat, and greases like that. I really need to replace the pipe from the 2nd picture onwards to the soil pipe, but it runs behind my bath and basin and requires more dismantling to get to.. aggghhhh

 

[oilman]

Sulphuric acid will probably shift it, but it looks like fat. Do you empty hot grease or oil down the drain, or do you eat a lot of fried/roasted food?

 

[IUK]

Sulphuric acid will probably shift it, but it looks like fat. Do you empty hot grease or oil down the drain, or do you eat a lot of fried/roasted food?

No thats the thing, the odd bit of frying once a week is about all we do. Definately the thick crud in picture 2 is meat + fats from other people living here.
Well i've scooped out the big sludge, and now rinsing it through, though it still seems slow even after snaking... I'll just keep on snaking it more.

 

[JohnD]

"it can only be vegetable waste, chip fat, and greases like that"

acid cleaners are not what you need for fat blockages.

You can buy a box of Washing Soda crystals in hardware or grocery shops that sell cleaning meterials, is very good for clearing fat, quite cheap.

(you may already know, but...) cooking fat should be poured into a container, such as a baked bean tin or similar. When it has cooled and hardened you can put it in the bin. Or if you prefer you can hang the lump of fat on a string for birds and mice to eat. Beware, if you tip hot fat into e.g. a plastic margarine tub, it will melt it and gush over your kitchen or feet.

Fat or oil in cooking pans can be wiped of with kitchen roll and put in the bin.

Cooking fats can cause some astonishing blockages in drains and sewers. If you wash it down the sink with hot water it will solidify again when it reaches a cool pipe.

I don't know what effect dishwashers have on greasy pipes, with their very hot water and powerful detergent.

 

[IUK]

Hi JohnD
Thanks for the tips, i'll get some soda crystals, and make sure i pour any used fat into a container + bin it when it hardens.
Cheers!

 

[JohnD]

54p a kilo in Tesco

don't buy Caustic Soda which is very different and dangerous but is also used to clear drains