The best laid plans of Rock Salt and Drains

[DerbyDad03]

In the continuing saga of my "roots in the drain" issue, I decided to apply the first 25 lbs of dissolved salt this morning just prior to leaving for work.

Last night I put a 20 gallon storage tub on my dolly, filled it about half way with hot water via a hose from the utility sink with the plan to roll it over to the shower stall this morning. I even did a "dry run" to make sure I could get it into position to dump it.

This morning, just before leaving for work, I went upstairs to make sure everyone was gone. As usual, all the bedroom doors were closed to keep the dog's out. I checked my son's room to make sure he had left for work. My wife's car was gone so she had left to drop my daughter off at school and then go to work. OK, we're all set.

So, I carefully roll the sloshing tub across the basement, slide it part way off the dolly onto the lip of the shower stall and slowly dump the water down the drain. I rinse the stall briefly with some clean water and wipe it down with a old towel. Damn you roots! Suck on that all day.

Then, just as I am walking out of the bathroom I hear a toilet flush! WTF?

I go upstairs to discover that my daughter woke up with a fever and took the day off from school!

So much for a solid 7 hours of salt water sitting in the drain. I swear I heard the roots snickering as I left the house.

[Vic Smith]

One flush probably won't matter anyway. Are you sure that shower dumps into the sewer line? Have to use the toilet for the salt in my place. Sink line (all but toilets) goes to a catch basin first.

--Vic

[DerbyDad03]

re: "One flush probably won't matter anyway"

It wasn't the 1 flush that I was "concerned" with. It's the shower she'll take, the other flushes, etc.

The point of my attempt at humor was that I was planning on 7 hours of no movement in the drain and instead there will someone home using water.

It's really no big deal, just another perfect plan gone awry.

re: "Are you sure that shower dumps into the sewer line?"

100% sure.

Besides the fact that when I upgraded the shower I had to move the old drain by jack-hammering the slab (so I know exactly how it is plumbed) I do not have a catch basin. I've snaked the line enough to know the drain accessible through the cleanout that is right outside the basement shower goes directly to pipe that goes to the street.

[DerbyDad03]

It takes a long time to flush 25 lbs of rock salt.

[Noel]

Where did you come up with this idea?

I work for a D.O.T. We brine our interstates b/4 a snow storm @ a rate of

20 gallons per lane mile. I'll put down an average of 30+ tons of salt, prewetting at a rate of 10 gallons of brine per ton during a 12 hr shift. Typically, a 40 lane mile interstate will get anywhere from 100 to 120 tons of salt thrown down in a 24 hr period. We don't have a bit of problem with weeds/trees/grass growing along the interstates. We have to mow/weedwack/ & spray to kill the stuff.

I'd take a serious look at wasting anymore of your time, in an attempt to kill a tree pouring brine water down a sewer.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Where did you come up with this idea?...an attempt to kill a tree pouring brine water down a sewer"

I'll bounce the question right bach at 'cha...

Where did you get the idea that I'm trying kill a tree?

This exercise is merely to eliminate the roots inside a cast iron pipe that tend to cause a blockage every couple of years.

It has been suggested in this newsgroup (as well as various other places on the web) that salt water will shrivel the roots in the drain and prevent a root-induced blockage. All indications is that it will

*not* harm the tree in any manner.

The suggested method is to let the salt water sit in the drain for a few hours to give the roots a chance to quench themselves.

[Noel]

LOL..... Glad you verified what he wrote 2 hrs ago.

Probably discharges into a sewer, because you are not allowed by code to discharge any other way. Some areas allow gray/grey water.

[Michael B]

I don't follow the logic on this. The drain...drains. And if it's something like shower water, only a half inch or so of rise in the pipe is likely to happen. That's why I've never been impressed with dumping a load of anything down.

When I lived a an old house, the local old timers swore by copper sulfate. The local hardware store stocked it as an algaecide for the ponds, so it was about $2 for a pound of it. It can cause corrosion in the tank, but a few crystals in the toilet bowl overnight, and then a big bolus of the solution goes down in the morning. Some of the oldsters would crunch a crystal up and sprinkle it in after a flush, so the next flush would have a good supply of it in solution. Copper sulfate is being discouraged for that sorta thing nowadays, because of it maybe causing a problem to a treatment plant. YMMV flush, for the next flush

[DerbyDad03]

re: "And if it's something like shower water, only a half inch or so of rise in the pipe is likely to happen."

If the roots are in such a position as to catch toilet paper and eventually cause a clog, then they're probably low enough to be saturated by the salt solution. Since the root's goal for being in the pipe in the first place is for access water, they're probably not hanging out at the top of the pipe where the water never reaches.

For $4 and a half hour's work a few times a year, I'm willing to try the suggestion. If I have to go back to the $40 to rent a snake and the work and mess involved with that, I'll know it didn't work, but I won't be out all that much.

To me, it's worth a try.

[DerbyDad03]

Multi-day? I just posted it at 9:49 AM EST today.

How could it be multi-day less than 10 hours later?

[DerbyDad03]

Got it!

Thanks for the get well comment! I'll pass it along.

[Vic Smith]

I assumed with a fever she wouldn't be showering, and you would have told her not to flush the toilet until the remaining 6 hours and 55 minutes expired.

Oh, I got that. Didn't leave you a LMAO because you've suffered enough. Besides, I'm old enough that kind of thing is almost par for the course. Think they call it "Kelly's Law" or sumptin.

Something to remember and keep you on your toes. You should act like an electrician working on a 440V machine. Lock it out. Which reminds me, I thought I lost my little stupid dog today. I was in and out a couple times and then noticed she was missing. Thought maybe she went between my legs and ran down the street. She's really dumb, so would never find her way home. I opened the bedroom door, and she was sitting there waiting for somebody to open the door. Too stupid to bark her way out. She only barks when it serves no purpose. I had "locked her in." Coincidentally, she had been sitting there 7 hours. Your salt should have been so lucky.

--Vic

[Vic Smith]

Seven hours is well within limits for my dogs. They get out at 5AM, 3PM and 10PM, sometimes more. I give them all the time they want when I take them out. Wife complains sometimes when the little one takes too long, The big dog already peed and crapped 3 times, while the little dog prances around looking for a truck to bark at. I tell the wife to lighten up. When somebody is telling her to pee or crap on demand then she can complain.

--Vic

[Vic Smith]

What ever works. I get dressed warm and get under covers. Been a real long time since I had a fever.

--Vic