The holiday seasons is a wonderful time to spend celebrating with friends and family. But it’s often a particularly tough time for your home’s plumbing system. Due to the increased use of plumbing fixtures and incorrect disposal of cooking grease and sanitary items down the drain, it’s not uncommon to see an increase in the number of blocked drains and sewers at this time of year.
When a blockage isn’t caught in time, particularly one in the main sewer line, this can be disastrous for your home and guests. A blocked sewer can impact every drain in the home and in the worst case scenario, untreated sewage can backup through toilets, showers and sinks into your home. Your family and guests will be unable to use the facilities and sewage is harmful to anyone who comes into direct contact with it.
No one wants to host a festive meal and have it be remembered for all the wrong reasons. And you don’t want to be paying overtime rates for a plumber to come and unblock the toilet on Christmas day. Here are some tips to avoid blocked drains and sewers this holiday season.
Avoid oil and grease from going down the kitchen sink
Roast turkey and honey-glazed ham make for delicious holiday meals. They also create extra cooking oil and greasy dishes. To avoid blocked drains, make sure you never pour oil down the sink. When grease cools it hardens, acting like a binding agent with other debris in the sewer system. It also coats the interior walls of the pipes, getting thicker and thicker until the pipe gets blocked like an artery. Pour oil into a heat proof container and dispose of it in the bin. Another great tip is to wipe greasy dishes with a paper towel before washing them.
Don’t pour gravy down the sink
It’s tempting to pour the leftover gravy down the sink. Some people even flush it down the toilet! Gravy is an essential part of a tasty Christmas roast, but it contains animal fats and is therefore similar to pouring oil down the sink. If you can’t eat all the gravy (which is obviously the best option) place it in the bin or better yet pour it on the compost heap for the worms to enjoy.
Make sure food scraps go into the bin, not the drain
Enjoying meals with family and friends normally means a greater amount of food scraps on the plate. Depending on who is washing up, some of these scraps will inevitably end up in the drain. Certain foods are worse for blocked drains than others, in particular those that swell in water. Make sure little bits of pasta from the pasta salad or pie crust crumbs from the mince pies are carefully scraped into the bin or the compost. Coffee grounds and tea leaves are also notorious for causing blocked drains so place these in the compost too.
Only flush toilet paper down the toilet
Even if your own family is well versed in what can and can’t be flushed down the toilet, not all of your house guests will be. Remind guests not to flush anything down the toilet apart from toilet paper. This includes “flushable” wipes, baby-wipes, nappies and sanitary products. Have a bin placed next to the toilet in every bathroom and encourage guests to dispose of these items mindfully.
Install hair catchers on bathroom drains
You may have a niece with luscious long hair or an uncle that likes to clipper his beard over the bathroom sink. The average person loses around 60-100 hairs per day. If you have 10 extra guests using the bathroom to wash and groom there is an instrumental increase in the amount of hair going down the drain. While it may seem too delicate to cause serious issues for your drainage, hair can get snagged in the sewer pipes and combine with other materials such as soap scum or grease.
You don’t want to impose too many rules on your house guests (such as making them brush their hair one hundred times before showing). The easiest way to reduce the amount of hair going down the drains is to install hair catchers. Disposable hair catchers can be purchased cheaply from most hardware stores, including Bunnings, which sells them in packs of 10 for $7.90. They’re easy to instal and catch hair before it goes down the drain, keeping your shower drain clear of hair and as well as other debris that might cause a blockage.
Get a plumber to perform high-pressure drain cleaning before houseguests arrive
A great way to prevent blocked drains in your Sydney home is to get your drains regularly cleaned by a professional plumber. Jet blasting uses high-pressured streams of water to flush the plumbing and sewer pipes clean. It’s very quick and removes virtually all traces of sediment from the pipes. Having all the drains in your home in the best condition possible before guests arrive will reduce the likelihood of a blockage occurring during the holiday season.
Need help with drain cleaning or a clogged drain?
JAB Plumbing Solutions are experts when it comes to blocked drains and drain cleaning. Our plumbers carry the latest jet blasting machines and drain cameras. We offer 24 hour emergency assistance and are here to make sure a blocked drain doesn’t ruin Christmas! Call us on 1800 225 552.
