Our drains go through a lot. Even the cleanest of us can really put our drains through their paces. Whether it’s our external gutters ferrying away rainwater or the kitchen sink that swallows up food debris, a small blockage can quickly snowball into something far more serious. These blockages can reduce water flow, create foul odors, and ultimately lead to structural damage caused by your pipes. Fortunately, keeping your drains clear and clean isn’t difficult.
Check Your Pipes for Obstructions and Clear Them Early
Any blockages or obstructions in your pipes are going to cause you trouble. Initially, a blockage might be small and have little impact on water flow. However, even a small blockage can grow and accumulate other dirt and debris. Not only will this continue to gradually reduce the flow but all the debris that forms the blockage will be stuck inside a damp and dirty pipe.
Food soon rots and other matter will decay and become infested. Many people don’t realize that they even have a blockage until they notice a persistent smell in their kitchen that they can’t get rid of. However, it isn’t just kitchens that can suffer blockages. If you flush anything down the toilet that you aren’t supposed to then these items can lead to obstructions.
Smaller blockages can be dealt with by pouring some drain cleaner down your drain, sometimes just pouring boiling water down the drain will be enough to dissolve the blockage and restore flow. Boiling water will also kill the bacteria that produce the odors you can smell.
For bigger jobs, you might need to look for a local hydro jetting company that can use a specialized tool that snakes down your drain and releases a high-pressure jet of water.
Check Your Pipes Regularly
So, you’ve checked your pipes, identified a growing blockage and dealt with it. That’s great, but unless you make a point of regularly checking your pipes for any future blockages that are forming, all your hard work will ultimately be for nothing. Once you have given your pipes an initial clean and cleared any blockages within, you should then make plans for more regular maintenance.
If you stay on top of cleaning your pipes, you won’t need to resort to any specialized tools or equipment. These are useful for your initial clean, but there are lots of DIY drain cleaners that you can use for your regular maintenance.
Fit a Screen On Your Drain
A drain screen is a simple but very effective means of keeping your drains clear. If you have a garbage disposal then your plumbing will be built to handle the debris to some extent, and obviously, your disposal will help to reduce your waste to nothing before you send it down the pipes. But for those who don’t have a garbage disposal, the drain screen will prevent solid matter from making it into your pipes so it’s easy for you to clean it all out of your sink.
As long as you stay on top of your pipe maintenance, you should have no trouble keeping them clean and the water flowing. Just be careful about what you put down the sink.