Urgent: Blocked soil drain problem!

Hi All,

We have noticed over the last week or so that the downstairs (and only) toilet took a little longer to flush away?

After a nice day out today I thought I'd give it a closer look and removed the rodding cap from the internal waste stack (1.5m drop?) and it all looked pretty clean (considering). With the cap off the toilet flushed pretty fast but with the cap back on it was slow again, suggesting some sort of back pressure?

I popped the manhole cover just outside our back door and I thought I'd discovered quatermass or summat? (you have all finished eating right ..?).

Upon investigation it seems to be a 4" thick carpet of tissue but also many 'squares' or what looksa like some sort of nylon'y kitchen / baby wipe. Even though they had been in water for ages they still seemed to be keeping their shape (when pulled about with the garden rake I was using to investigate).

Now I'm on the 'deep end' of a victorian terrace of 8 houses and I wondered if there was a blockage past our junction onto the common main. that might of backed up along the entire row? To that end I lifted the nextdoors manhole expecting the same but it was clean? (It did look like the water level had risen at some time recently).

So, is it that there has been a blockage *past* my 'T' into the comminial (probably caused by these wipe things) and their waste has then filtered up my section, then clearing (or being cleared) possibly leaving my section blocked?

I do have a set of drain rods and might suit up tomorrow and see what happens? Othewise I might see if Machine Mart are open and see if they have drain cleaning addon to my Kew 'Hobby' pressure washer?

Apart from washing my hands before eating my sarnies, any other words of caution and who would I contact next if it won't clear (the problem could be under the road that is beside our house).

Is there any recourse on those who are putting these items down the toilet?

All the best .. and have a happy Easter ;-(

T i m

Reply to
T i m
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Yes, just about!

Probably these bloody adverts encouraging people to toilet train their kids (in the wiping department) properly with wet wipes.

God sake man! Just get the rods out in shorts and T-shirt. Give it a poke and i'm sure it'll shift.

Council - they will decide who's to pay and bill appropriately. Been there and done it. Usually its them and as this could present a health hazard they are very good at it (IMHO). If however they decide its for the residents to pay, then it depends how proactive a council bod you get and how willing said residents are to cough up - needs someone proactive/nosy/concerned to organise it. Once it becomes a health hazard, the lovely council step back in and start issueing orders.

No. Just sort it and chill out.

And to you.

Tony

Reply to
Tony

By all means try to clear it with your rods. If possible, start from an unblocked chamber *downstream* from yours and rod up towards your chamber. [Pushing the blockage upstream and away from whatever it's resting on (half a brick, for example) often allows everything to flow past the original obstacle].

If you can't clear it yourself, you'll have to get help from the the local council or water board. A lot depends on whether it's a public or private sewer. A lot of modern properties (including mine) are served by private sewers which branch off from the public sewer. If a private sewer gets blocked or needs to be repaired, it's down to the owners of all the properties served by it to pay for the work.

ISTR that any sewer built before some date or other in the 1930's and which serves 2 or more properties is deemed to be "public" and is therefore the responsibility of the local authority to unblock or repair. It your house is Victorian, this should hopefully cover your situation. Even so, you won't get much action until after the holiday, so d-i-y might still be in order!

Reply to
Set Square

On an old drain I'd avoid violence and thus the pressure washer. It would appear to be these cloths that are the problem anyway and if they aren't falling apart when prodded blasting 'em with a pressure washer probably won't destroy them either, they need mechanical removal. The twin pronged screw thing on the drain rods is the best bet I would have thought. Remember you are supposed to rod up hill, ie from below the blockage.

Dig back in here about drains and dates. Shared drains before/after a certain date are/are not the responsiblity of the local water company. I forget which way round it is or the date, having a septic tank... Also check your deeds, there should be something in them about any shared services/rights of access/who pays etc.

You will probably find that all users of the shared service are equally liable for any costs. If you know all the people a friendly word (and noting which households have young children...) pointing out the fact they could end up with a share of a very large bill may well stop it. Most people seem think their responsibilty for waste ends at the U bend and pay fall attention to the rights and responsibilties that the deeds of a property mean they have to comply with.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Hi Tony / Set Square and thanks for your prompt replies ;-)

After posting the plea I phoned Thames Water and they called an emergency engineer to attend for a free inspection.

So, the emergency engineer called back and I've said it would be ok for tomorrow morning (then I can claw a favour back) ;-)

So, I put my shorts and T on (thanks Tony) , got the rods out and plunged in (the rods not me) but can't get anywhere? From memory the inpection chamber is about 2m deep. near the bottom it slopes from the sides (cement) at about 45 deg to a half round gully at the bottom leading away to the drain. There are two 'upstands' within the chamber to direct the waste to the bottom (rather than up the sides etc).

If possible, start from an

Well, the only 'chamber' I'm aware of is mine and nextdoors and they are local to where our services leave the house. From there they head North where I believe they join a common drain running from the West down past us to the East.

I started with just the rods (no end fitting) but could not get anything into the outlet more than about 6". The same with the twin screw, the half flap or rubber disk. I lifted next doors cover and tried the same thing (and could see exactly what I was doing) but again I couldn't get further than about a foot with just the rod without it coming to a halt?

Nice, *their* non-disolving wipes and I have to pay then get the money back off them (not a lot of chance of that ..) It's the parents of the same sort of kids who use my car / house as a goal post and fill my front garden up with the crisps / sweets wrappers .. ;-(

I read on my Councils Web site that it's to do with pre / post 1937 and public / private sewers and that it could therefore be a public sewer and down to them? (My house was built in 1897)

Even so, you won't

They did say Monday ..?

so d-i-y might still be in order!

Been there smelled that and am looking forward to 8am tomorrow to see what happens ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Ok on that. So, the bloke that is coming tomorrow morning may well end up starting in the road as there's not much between me and there?

I've read 1937? The engineer menctioned some sort of 'Act' ..

Good idea .. they are about somewhere ..

I was about to mention that I don't suppose I would get a sympathetic ear till you mentioned the potential cost to them bit!

Most people seem think their responsibilty for waste ends at

Now where *are* those deeds ... ;-)

All the best and thanks Dave ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

The rod needs to enter the pipe at a fairly shallow angle or it will jam. That 2m deep chamber isn't going to let you get a shallow enough angle until you push, hard, and bend the rod. Once it is in it should just push down easyly (obstructions permitting...). Remember to only ever twist the rods the same way to tighten the screw fittings...

Well in the end you can try to get your money back through the courts but a) tell them that they are legally bound to pay their share b) how much it's likely to be, before you spend anything. But it looks like this is a public sewer therefore the costs are the council/waste water companies problem.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

1937 is the correct date. Shared drains in use before that date are now the responsibility of the water company. The bit before the drain/sewer becomes shared is the householder's problem
Reply to
BillV

I guessed that Dave and tried at every angle for quite a while. I would enter the end of the rod with no attachment and push-pull / joggle / twist (clockwise) but nothing. Even with the end of the rod located in what I believe to be the exit to the chamber I would then push the rods down so the rod was now running flat along the gully and up the back wall of the chamber but still nothing? The only think that would give that effect is if there was a brick or similar across the exit to the chamber?

Remember to only

Indeed .. I even screwed them together as tight as I could ;-)

Ok, thanks for that and I'll let you know how we get on today (if / when the emergency man turns up ..).

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Hi Bill,

Thanks for that.

The 'problem' at the moment is I can't tell where the blockage starts, all I know is that the contents of our chamber wasn't put there by us!

I've done quite a bit of browsing and it seems these 'Kandoo' baby wipes have been a big cause of such problems and they may have even redesigned the product in light of this (obviously too late for me or not redesigned enough?).

I currently have a 2gal bucket that I raked off the surface of the inspection hole that is a nearly solid mass of fabric. Short of going through it in detail all I'd swear I saw some socks or summat in there?

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Is this in your neighbours chamber where you can see what you are doing or your own full of s*1t... Maybe you ought to bale out yours but what you do with the contents without a down stream chamber to empty into I'm not sure. With a property of that age the surface water drains may well go to a soakaway and you don't want to clog that up. The water board would take a dim view of using a street surface water drain, if they found out. IMHO it's not a real problem for such a small quantity of foul water, first decent bit of rain would flush and dilute it very well.

I can't see why there would be, at least by design, it's asking to get clogged up... If you can't see where the end of the rod is maybe you haven't got it in quite the right place, sound out for the lowest point around all edges of the chamber?

Seems to the best bet for the time being, it must be draining to some extent otherwise you'd have the chamber overflowing all over the place by now.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Both?

Maybe you ought to bale out yours

Well, as I said his next door seems fine som maybe the common blockage has gone leaving ours blocked up?

With a property of that age the surface water

No, in this case I believe the surface water also goes down the foul drain.

But it would probably be reminiscent of old london town .. the smell and that!

I was wondering if some part of the mortar had fallen away and was blocking it?

No show from drain bloke by 9am (promised 8am) so another call to Thames Water to prod them from that end. Bloke turns up at 10:45 and has a gander down the hole. He joins two of his bigger heavier rods together with the (bigger) rubber disk thing and gives the outlet a good slamming (like I did in angle / direction just harder). Nothing much happened the first time but he tried again (even harder this time) and whoosh, out it all went!

I gave his rods a spray down for him and a cuppa whilst I cleaned out the inside of the chamber with the hose / jet. He asked if I wanted a duster to finish off with ...

Reply to
T i m

In a plumbers merchant I got some extremely strong one-shot drain cleaner. It came with all sorts of H&S warnings and was mainly sulphuric acid in a gel to make it sink to the bottom of the blockage. Worked for me... Do not use it if you have already put caustic soda in the blockage... the effect will be dramatic

Reply to
BillV

(etc.)

Any shared drain built brfore 1937 is the responsibility of the water/drainage company (have to be careful there, different companies do input and output in our area).

We had this problem. Phoned the people and they were out to us within 2 hours and cleared it all at no charge. The woman on the phone did ask how old, and I just said 'pre 1937', at which she laughed and said something like 'you know, then'....!

Reply to
Bob Eager

SNIP

Your drain isn't shared by any elderly folk with dementia is it? I recall working with one guy who entertained us with his experiences of being caretaker in a maximum security nursing home for the terminally bewildered. Now and again he would encounter a little old lady wandering down the corridoor back to her room totally naked. This almost always meant she had had a toilet accident and stuffed all her soiled clothes down the toilet completely blocking the drains, usually in the most inaccessible and difficult to clear point.

Seriously though you should try using drain rods with a runner wheel on the end of the rods. this will be easier to shove along the pipe when you find the opening and when you finally come up against the blockage 9 times out of

10 you can ram it about a bit to clear "most" debris. As already said though make sure you only twist the rods clockwise unless you are using lockfasts with spanner connections
Reply to
John

That sounds like a good idea ..

Worked for me...

I bet!

No, I didn't get as far as that .. I'm still confused as to why he cleared it when I didn't .. just down to the amount of 'effort' he put into it I suppose (I didn't want to break anything) as it's all over

100 years old down there).

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Only my 7-year-older Wife ? ;-)

with dementia is it?

Ah, no, that's me!

I recall

(that is me ..?)

Bless ;-)

Didn't know they made such a thing? I was saying to the missus that I feel I need something like a billiard ball on the end to stop it catching on the edges .. ;-)

this will be easier to shove along the pipe when you find

That's what I tried to do when I started with just the rods (no attachments) .. it just didn't go past about 3" into the actual drain part and bent down the back wall and onto the gully floor and just felt like I'd hit concrete?

As already said though

Yes, I remembered that but still considered taping the joints up (I didn't though) ..

All the best ..

T i m

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Reply to
T i m

Once we'd overcome the first 'misshap' (letting the engineer off Sunday night and trusting he'd get someone else there at 8am Monday I'd say they were all prett responsive. However, the guy that did turn up said 'you know this is a private drain don't you'? I think he was suggesting that the blockage was at my end of the 1m run to the shared section? I pointed out that 90 % the contents of the manhole came UP the drain!

Ho Hum ..

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

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