what is the plaster like gunk that clogs my drainpipe?

replying to Ed Pawlowski, carey wrote: I have soft water and do NOT send oil or grease down the sink with the exception of leftover olive oil from a daily salad. We bake, but I minimize the flour that goes down as well. Yet, the level 8" pipe from my garbage disposal to sink drain pipe has been clogging up with the white junk... almost solidly the whole length. This pipe drains to the U-pipe that comes up about the same level to the final pipe drain at the wall... Meaning, the water may not drain cleanly unless pushed along. I'm starting to guess it's the small amounts of olive oil collecting over the months between cleanout. What else could it be? I thought it was the flour, which may be the other part of the gunk. Fortunately, this section is plastic/PVC pipe that is easily unscrewed and cleaned (takes about

replying to carey, John Grabouski wrote: No disposal, no DW. Appear to have same stuff, I too am a chemist, but no longer have lab access. In my case, I live in the rental formerly Single Family residence now 8 plex. My kitchen sink stacks up with the one above it and nothing else on that line. Also (unfortunately) when the plumbing for these sections was done (before my time here) the drains were in copper. Supply lines in Galv pipe. Having been working on a clogged drain today in the kitchen (runs through the basement. I have been under the impression, the white chunks are grease which have come out of solution when the hot water containing the grease cools as it feeds away from your sink. We also have very hot water in this area, so that could help with the process.

Generally sticking any acid (even vinegar) is not a good thing for a copper drain, so I have refrained. I have had luck with KOH/NaOH. That is...until today. When even that didnt work. SO I am in the process of cutting out the 12 ft copper section now (12 years on my todo list) and replacing it with PVC....and a couple of cleanout plugs strategically placed. Ask me again in another 10 years. THis thread was started in 2008?? So 10 years might be around!

No disposal, no DW. Appear to have same stuff, I too am a chemist, but no longer have lab access. In my case, I live in the rental formerly Single Family residence now 8 plex. My kitchen sink stacks up with the one above it and nothing else on that line. Also (unfortunately) when the plumbing for these sections was done (before my time here) the drains were in copper. Supply lines in Galv pipe. Having been working on a clogged drain today in the kitchen (runs through the basement. I have been under the impression, the white chunks are grease which have come out of solution when the hot water containing the grease cools as it feeds away from your sink. We also have very hot water in this area, so that could help with the process.

Generally sticking any acid (even vinegar) is not a good thing for a copper drain, so I have refrained. I have had luck with KOH/NaOH. That is...until today. When even that didnt work. SO I am in the process of cutting out the 12 ft copper section now (12 years on my todo list) and replacing it with PVC....and a couple of cleanout plugs strategically placed. Ask me again in another 10 years. THis thread was started in 2008?? So 10 years might be around!

WHile I dont put any grease down the sink, I can guarantee my tenants above have not. And as some grease is dissolved by the hot water soap solution, that could still hold with my theory.

PS..dumping hot water down the pipe will likely only move the problem farther down the pipe....but perhaps that is far enuff.

I have heard plumbing is designed to last 50 years in a new construction house. This one dates to the 1890s. Much of my maintenance involves plumbing (or roofing)....Wont be building my own anytime soon. GOOD LUCK.

Unfortunately I have not replaced this section of Feed pipes (galvanized pipe) with PEX, so water pressure isnt great either. Which means, anything WASHED down the pipe, doesnt get very far.

Would be curious to know what anyone else has found out.

replying to John Grabouski, John Grabouski wrote: Meant to say....we have very HARD water here. [Not so much HOT water.] BTW. MrRooter website also has some thought, I am NOT employed (nor ever have been) with Mr Rooter. I did find several points applicable to the original post.

So when I finally removed it (about 2001), I was surprised to find a "tongue" of hard water deposit which extended past the middle of the 4 inch hole and was nearly 4 inches wide. YEP, it prevented a full flow of waste down the hole. Reminded me of a stalactite (which forms over 1000s of years?). Apparently flushing a half dozen times daily is the near equivalent. How is this RELEVANT. Hard water deposits which accumulate. [Although I still subscribe to the grease coming out of solution when the soap solution cools from the original HOT solution which helped dissolve the grease, but it could be helped to come out of solution by those same minerals which help with hard water deposits.

I have The same problem. It showed up on a sag in the pipe. A white chalky kind of greasy plaster like slab on the bottom of the pipe. It doesn’t dissolve in hot water.

replying to Philip1942, Gabriel101777 wrote: I have the same problem. I had to take all the drain pipes out from my kitchen sink and power wash them to get the stuff out. I just replaced my pipes about a year ago as well. I cannot find anything to dissolve it.

I've had the exact same problem. About once or twice a year, I have to blast through with a snake, though my deposits tend to gather at the end of the pipe just before it pours into the septic tank. It is a chalky, hard, but crumbly, crust that is creamy-white in color. And it floats. This is definitely not my favorite job either; I sympathize with you deeply. My job goes like this: bathroom toilet suddenly floods, I check septic tank to make sure it isn't filling faster than the leach fields can handle; seeing that the tank isn't full or overflowing, I know it is the chalky substance. I rent the snake (mine has to be a 2", 100' long to reach the end of the line, then I drag this heavy mo-fo under the house, unscrew the cap, run the snake, and look for breakthrough deposits in the septic tank. Of course, that's if everything goes right. I once had the screw-like head/blade at the end of the snake break off somewhere in my line! And I've hit my head hard, many times over the years. I always feel like a spider is going to crawl into my butt-crack and bite me. And then, of course, the water tends to back-up (uphill as you say) because the line is full. So the septic fountain under the house is a special treat after hitting my head. Boiling hot water is the only thing that works for me too, and I'm definitely not using stuff that might destroy all the good stuff in the septic tank. I'm curious what you find with your sample. I've removed the stuff from the tank, but haven't figured it out what it is. I too though soap deposits from the dishwasher in particular. If the dishwasher pod doesn't dissolve entirely (maybe because water into dishwasher isn't hot enough), it goes into the line as a chalky, sticky substance, which then congeals onto future undissolved dishwasher tablets. I took out an old dishwasher and noticed a bunch of this chalky deposit clogging the dishwasher drain hose. So that might be one causal factor, which then serves as a foundation for other crap to stick to it and grow into a pretty substantial mortar. Well, that's my theory anyway. Curious what you find. And carry on, my brother.

I am the OP and just got an email that someone has replied to my 14 yr old post. Glad it wasn't an emergency... I'm guessing that since our pipes reflect our diet, that what we have here, me drooges, is the plumbing version of atherosclerosis. I would therefore like to suggest one of the statin drugs that lowers blood cholesterol in humans. Since the price of snaking a pipe has come down from $300-400 to about $99, I don't mind paying this once every few years. The date on my pipe says 3-19-2019 (last time it was snaked). My hand snake job never got to the major clog and therefore the clog would reappear more often. They snake from the stack vent on the roof above my kitchen sink. Good luck out there. At the age of 78, I don't expect 2B around for the next 14 yr old query. I leave it to one of you. Cheers.

I just snaked out my kitchen sink's drain with a 25-foot 0.5" diameter steel snake and upon removal the backwash with the snake returned 1" to 2"- long pieces of this strange cream-colored material floating in the bucket with the drain water. Upon visual inspection the material appears to be made up of mineral deposits but it is soft like plumber's putty. We are on well & septic here in Connecticut and the previous owners installed a garbage disposal that we don't use. I put the material on a rock in the sunshine to dry out and a tiny bit broke off. I touched it and it smeared on the rock with a brilliant white streak in the sunshine. I am curious what comprises this material that was blocking the kitchen drain pipe (PVC out to cast iron to septic tank).