Little attention is given to a home’s drainage system until something goes wrong. It’s only when the sewer starts to overflow, the kitchen sink won’t drain properly or the toilet backs up that residents call a Sydney plumber to get their drains cleaned. However, the sewer system and plumbing pipes that transport waste away from your home should be maintained throughout the year, not only when they're malfunctioning. Regular maintenance can protect your home and family from the inconvenience of a clogged drain.
What is high-pressure drain cleaning?
Plumbers use a jet blaster machine to perform high-pressure drain cleaning. This purpose-built machine uses pressurised water to scrub the interiors of pipes clean, removing things like grease build-up, mineral deposits, wet-wipes and sediment from your drains. Jet blasters have a long-reaching hose that is fed into an access point and propels along the inside of the pipe using powerful streams of water. This hose can be fitted with a number of attachments that can cut through different types of clogs in the pipes.
In order to maintain your drain pipes and keep them in optimum condition, we recommend having your drains jet blasted annually (or bi-annually if you have issues with tree root intrusion). Depending on the size of your home’s plumbing system and accessibility of access points, this process should take no more than an hour and cost approximately $350.
What are the benefits of regular drain cleaning?
1 - Drain cleaning removes small blockages before they become a major issue
A great example of this is a build-up of oil and grease in the sewer pipes. When oil gets washed down the sink on a regular basis, it coagulates in the pipes, lining the interior and accumulating over time until the flow becomes restricted. Oil and grease also bind other materials in the pipes (such as wet-wipes) together. These clumps are known as “fatbergs” and they cause huge problems for sewer pipes. The bigger they get, the more difficult they are to break-up and remove. Routine drain cleaning will prevent fatbergs from forming by flushing the pipes clean on a regular basis.
2 - Regular drain cleaning can save you money in the long run
Routine drain cleaning may appear expensive up-front, but when you consider the cost of replacing a sewer that has become infested with tree roots, it’s well worth the investment. High-pressure drain cleaning can remove minor tree root intrusion from your outside sewer or stormwater pipes. While tree roots will eventually grow back, annual or biannual drain cleaning will be sufficient to keep roots at bay. If left unattended, tree roots will continue to grow inside the pipes until the pipe is completely blocked. Tree roots can also cause large cracks or damage to the pipework.
3 - Drain cleaning can safeguard your home from damage
Regular drain cleaning helps to prevent blocked drains from occurring. This means your home is protected from the risks associated with drain blockages. Take the example of a clogged sewer main. If the main line has become completely blocked, untreated sewage can no longer pass through the pipes. Rather than being safely transported away from your home to the Council mains, the sewage has nowhere else to go except back-up through the pipes. Sewage can overflow from the shower, floor drains and out of the toilet. This can lead to water damage and expensive carpet cleaning bills.
4 - Drain cleaning Protects your family from the dangers of clogged drains
Clogged drains don’t just represent a risk to your home, they can also be harmful to your family. Untreated sewage may contain a number of disease-causing parasites and bacteria including hepatitis and Giardia. Routine drain cleaning drastically reduces the likelihood of a blockage in the sewer main. Even if the your drains don’t overflow, letting debris build-up in the pipes is a breeding ground for bacteria and other nasty elements, resulting in allergies.
5 - Drain cleaning prevents drain flies from infesting in the pipes
If you’ve observed small moth-like flies around the drains in your home, it could be indicative of a drain fly infestation inside the pipes. Also referred to as sewer gnats, these pests lay their eggs in, and feed on organic matter that has built up inside the plumbing pipes. The quickest and most effective way to eradicate drain flies (and stop them from coming to your home in the first place) is to remove their food source and breeding grounds by getting your drains regularly cleaned with a jet blaster.
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