mysterious airlocks in waste water system

[ecyverin12]

Hello. What looked like being the usual 'toilet with a tendency to block up' problem in my relatively new house (still under new building guarantee) has developed in some bizarre ways and I'd appreciate advice.

When the top floor toilet is blocked, if I then run the water on the sink nearby for about 5 minutes, large bubbles of air come up out of the toilet pan and continue for about 5 minutes before stopping.

This causes the toilet blockage to appear in the toilet one floor down.

If I then run the sink taps in that bathroom, air and water bubble up from the waste in the bath for some minutes!

It keeps on happening and is really annoying because it affects the use of the main toilets in the house even though they are only being used for ordinary purposes and have never had anything funny put down them such as loads of paper.

Where is this air coming from? Is it the cause of the blockages in the loo? And how can I stop it? All explanations welcome!

 

[dextrous]

Sounds like a blockage somewhere in the stack or underground drain. Have a look round outside for an inspection chamber (maybe even as small as about a foot in diameter), open it up and use this to see if there is a blockage upstream or downstream of it.

To explain your phenomena - when you flush the loo, the water is being prevented from escaping due to a pressure build up (basically a "bung" of trapped air). Turning on the taps will fill up the stack at a slower rate, but being unable to go freely down the drain will cause the trapped air to be forced back up through either the WC or the bath/sink, hence you get what you observe.

 

[WDIK]

where you been dex?

 

[dextrous]

where you been dex?

Hiding in the cellar with my night vision glasses, looking after my moth pupae collection