Drain/Sewer Problems

[Aragorn84]

For the last few months we've had ongoing issues with our drains.

Just before Christmas the neighbour was having his toilet backing up, but we had no issues. After christmas our toilet started acting odd, not backing up but "sucking" and emptying itself when flushed.

Shortly thereafter the rainwater gulleys in our back garden started overflowing sewage whenever it rained, and prolonged use of the shower would also cause them to overflow.

My neighbour has a manhole in his garden and opening this we discovered it was full up. We tried rodding it but didnt get anywhere, so he called Scottish water to see if they'd have a look

They sent a guy out and had a look and said it was the "public" sewer for our block that was blocked. The bloke brought his mapping system up on the laptop and showed me that there should be a manhole in my garden as well, but we couldnt find it. The sewer runs along the back of our row of four houses, before turning 45 degrees at the end of my house, travels thru my front garden to a blind connection to the main sewer in the road. The hidden manhole in my garden was the one that covers where it makes its 45 degree turn. The guy spent a good half hour with the jetter and eventually got it cleared.

Plumbing all returned to normal, for about a week or two, then we had some heavy rain and the problems returned.

Neighbour called them out again and they repeated the jetting, this time the guy found a small grille in my front garden which he said was a trap, which he had a go at as well and again got it cleared.

two weeks back i hadnt noticed it blocked, but neighbour had and called them out, the bloke plunged the grille in my front garden and went off saying it was fixed, i was busy but didnt really pay much attention to that visit.

A week later it was blocked again, after some heavy rain the area around the trap in my front garden was seriously flooded so again we called them. This time i'd done some digging and found the manhole in my garden as well. Guy came out and had a look, did some plunging at the small grille in my front garden and "cleared it" and we watched all the manholes empty etc.

Now today i've noticed its blocked up again, about a week after the guy was last here.

Each time they've come out they've blamed the blockage on "baby wipes". Given i'm looking down the same hole as the guy is, theres no way in hell he can know its baby wipes, and it feels to me like a canned answer they blame any blockage on. Me and the neighbour dont even own any wipes and the other two houses on our drain are inhabited with elderly folk.

I'm going to call them out again tomorrow, but this is getting a bit silly and i'm fed up with my front and back garden being filled with sewage!

Surely there must be an actual issue with this drain?

I asked the guy last time if it could be a cracked or collapsed pipe and he assured me "oh no wont be that its just these wipes" but i cant really say i believe him. The neighbour said that when he called Scottish Water the second time, they told him on the phone that if it happened a third time, they'd do a CCTV survey on the drain, but this hasnt happened and its now going to be the fifth call out for the same issue!

 

[Burnerman]

Meet the drainage lads worst enemy.....if not baby wipes it's those bloody toilet 'Moists' that people flush away. Unfortunately they aren't degradable and settle where they may.
The same applies to incontinence pads, so I guess it depends on what's being found in your inspection chambers!
If it's not those, then a TV survey is in order.
John

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Wipes, and pads are an absolute nightmare, I have seen pumps weighing over a tonne rendered useless by wads of wipes. Any manufacturer promoting 'flushable' wipes should be made to contribute to the cost of the damage the damn things cause to the network.

Don't assume just because there are no babies in the block, that these things aren't being used! The problem is so bad in my area, Anglian Water launched a campaign to try and educate people. http://keep-it-clear.co.uk/

It would be prudent for the Water Co. to do a CCTV survey at this stage, something is clearly amiss down there, but his remarks are likely to be based on experience. You can usually 'feel' what the problem is, a collapse is a lot harder to break through than a wad of rag!

 

[Aragorn84]

Yeh i was thinking more that a cracked or slightly dislodged pipe was forming an "edge" which stuff was catching on and collecting up, rather than the pipe having completely collapsed in. Its old clay pipe.

The old dear next up the row from my neighbour seemingly gets carers in, and the water guy said that they sometimes use wipes etc and horse them down the bog without thinking.

He's leafleted both the old dears a couple times with pamphlets about not putting wipes down the pan. Scottish water have also been running radio adverts about wipes and grease, so evidently it is an issue network wide like you suggest.

However its evidently changed recently, its been fine for the first year and a half we lived here and now its doing this!

It just seemed to me that he was immediately blaming wipes because "thats what it always is" rather than because he'd ascertained that was what was actually wrong.

I'll get on the phone to them tomorrow and see if we can get this CCTV survey done.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Elderly, and carer. 2 words straight away that indicate wipes could be an issue! Carers, unfortunately, are often against the clock and will need to get each client 'done' in record time, hence possible things are getting flushed that shouldn't be.... Leaflets dont always get read, sadly.

I am afraid wipes do get an awful lot of blame, but that is simply because they cause an awful amount of problems! Fat, silt and roots used to be common culprits, fat is still a major issue, but wipes I think are now the number 1 problem in drains. As you say, it only takes one bad joint to provide a 'lip' where these can catch and the problem soon builds up....

I think if most people saw the amount of rag that is screened out at the treatment works they'd be shocked. (And that is only what has made it that far, there is still a large amount lurking in the network that hasn't made it to the works!)

 

[HERTS P&D]

When he said wipes, he didn't only mean baby wipes, there are make up wipes, cleaning wipes, face wipes even kitchen roll has the same effect. 95% of the drainage blockages I go to are down to wipes somewhere in the drain line.

I tell my customers to keep using them if they want to see me again in a couple of weeks!

The only thing that should go down the toilet is what comes out of us and toilet paper.

The toilet is not a rubbish bin, no to ear buds or sanitary products!

Andy