It’s that time of year again – the days are short, it’s cold and there’s a higher risk of getting blocked drains. But have no fear, CountyClean Group is here to reduce your worries!
In the following article we share our top tips on how to prevent blockages and flooding in your drainage system at your home or business. If you need to call in the experts, our team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Why do drains get blocked?
Impasses in gullies and outdoor drains are mostly caused by a build-up of dead leaves, twigs and silt, especially during autumn and winter. Tree roots are also a common reason for blockages and damaged pipework.
If your drain leads from the kitchen, bathroom or toilet there can be a variety of explanations for an obstruction.
In the kitchen, the most common reasons of blockages are a build-up of food items, grease and fat – particularly in colder temperatures.
Bathroom blockages are not specific to the winter but it’s still important to know what causes them. Hair and soap scum are the main culprits for blockages, also foreign objects such as hair grips that collect with other debris can clog up the pipework.
Finally, excessive amounts of paper, nappies, sanitary products, wipes and cotton wool should be disposed of in the bin and not down the toilet as they can create instant obstructions causing your drains to back up and overflow and / or cause internal flooding. In 2017, Water UK found that wipes made up about 93% of the material causing sewer blockages!
How can you prevent blockages?
Everyone can easily prevent blockages as long as you’re careful what goes into drains and what lies around them.
Outside, this means that you should always try to keep the drains around your house free from leaves and other debris by sweeping your outdoor areas regularly and removing debris from the gully grates.
In the kitchen, you should thoroughly scrape plates and buy a food catcher to ensure food never goes down the sink. If you have a sewage treatment plant or a pump station these can suffer serious issues and breakdowns caused by fat, grease and oil build-up (Water UK) leading to the drainage system backing up which can cause blockages and flooding.
Never pour grease or fat directly down the drain, allow it to cool and harden first then dispose of it in the bin using kitchen towel. Oil can be collected in a container and taken it to your local recycling centre (check availability first).
In bathrooms, ensure no foreign items enter your drains, make sure they are put in to the bin instead. You can also help to prevent blockages in your sink and bath by purchasing silicone hair catchers – these are easily available to buy online.
What can CountyClean Group do?
If blockages do occur, you can count on our expert team to pinpoint the cause and relieve the blockage. We provide a variety of services for commercial and domestic property owners. This includes high pressure drain jetting which is ideal for clearing deposits of fat, grease and other debris.
Our crews and van pack jetting units can respond quickly and have a wide range of jetting nozzles and equipment to quickly clear the blockage.
For those bigger jobs we have Kroll Super Combination units available for clearing and cleaning sewers, soak-aways, septic tanks, cesspits for commercial, industrial and domestic drainage systems.
We also have rubber tracked portareels available which connect to our Kroll Super Combination units to enable jetting up to 500m away allowing us to access remote locations off road and difficult access areas such as rail industry sites, parks, country estates, fields and wooded areas plus many more.
Our experienced teams also provide gully emptying and cleaning and can make light work of blockages saving you time and money.
If you aren’t sure where or what the cause of your blockage is, we also provide pipe and drain CCTV inspections, this is done by using state-of-the-art Mainline CCTV vans which are capable of surveying pipes from 100mm up to 1800mm and includes the latest WinCan version VX reporting software providing a full report and DVD.
CountyClean Group to the Rescue
The above services provide you with the most cost effective and environmentally friendly solutions for cleaning and clearing your commercial, industrial and domestic drains, sewers, sewage systems and gullies.
We operate across London and the South supporting the commercial, industrial, utilities, marine and domestic sectors and operate an-out of hours emergency service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If disaster strikes this winter – including over the Christmas period, then please contact us free on 0800 171 2204 or 01323 741818 to talk to our team who can book any of our services for you, alternatively email us at info@countycleangroup.co.uk. You can trust that we have all your drainage, sewage and gully needs covered.