My neighbour may have blocked out joint drain with fat.

[nickjaxe]

The drain that leads from my home to the main drain in the street keep blocking at the U bend just where it leaves my property to goto the main drain in the street,

I keep having to lift the cover off and put my drain rods into the U bend with a 4" inch round rubber fitting,

That clears it...but today I noticed that I can see fat sticking to the side of the pipe just before it enters the U band or trap...not sure of its name,

I an wondering if this could be built up further into the drain,

I have an idea my neighbour maybe poring fat down the drain...not had a chance to ask him yet but I will....is there an easy way to remove it...its not really very accessible with my rods due a sharp bend.

Nick in the UK.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Only 'easy' way to remove it is either scrape it off using a suitable attachment on the end of a set of rods, or get the drain jetted.

If it's a shared drain then responsibility may now fall to the Water Authority for repairs/maintenance, could be worth speaking to them. If the neighbour is disposing of fat down the drains then they may well have words to advise him/her not to as well!

The 'U'bend before the drain goes out to the main sewer in the road is commonly referred to a the 'Interceptor' or 'Buchan Trap'. These are prone to blocking, it's not unknown for them to be removed in extreme cases of repeated blocking, but the depth of the drain usually determines the viability of that procedure!

 

[Agile]

It is very common for those doing certain kinds of cooking to regularly block drains with fat. Chinese cooking in particular!

In sinks boiling caustic soda solution will usually dissolve the fat but thats nasty stuff to handly.

In cold underground drains its quite a problem.

Stopping the source is the only proper solution!

Tony

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Have you ever had the misfortune to deal with a blocked drain from an Indian cooking establishment Tony? Done a few, but I can easily say the worst was one operating from a small rural industrial estate, offering home delivery. Due to the location they had no mains drainage..... One Klargester Biodisc plant (approx 800 gallons capacity), absolutely SOLID with congealed fat. And they wondered why we couldnt do much with it......

 

[HERTS P&D]

Get it jetted!



I had to do an African restaurant on Thursday, it was the worst blockage I have seen in 20 years. Blocked solid with grease and fat.

It took 2 hours jetting at 4000psi - 10 gallons a minute.

Andy

 

[Agile]

Indian restaurants use a much thicker oil ( ghee ) and I guess that does not run so easily when its cold so perhaps does not get poured down drains so much?

I have very rarely even been called to an Indian to unblock drains.

Tony

 

[matt1e]

rice s pretty good at blocking drains too

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

It took 2 hours jetting at 4000psi - 10 gallons a minute.

Blimey Andy, you'd need more than a garden hose to keep the tank topped up on that job! Water recycling seems to be the way forward on the truck mounted units now, but feedback i've heard is they're having a few issues.....

As for the Indian, the drains weren't blocked as such (amazingly), but 800 gallon equivalent of solid fat had found its way into the Klargester, rendering it useless..... They had (in fairness) attempted to make a DIY grease trap, but a 40 gallon water tank doesnt hold much, and did require slightly more than an annual empty......