How To Avoid a Blocked Drain

Have you ever experienced a clogged drain in your home or place of work? If your answer is yes, then you know how inconvenient and potentially damaging it can be.

When you begin to see the signs of a drain blockage it’s important that the problem gets rectified as soon as possible. If left untreated, the blockage can cause damage and flooding to your home or property, in turn, costing so much more than dealing with it then and there.

Don’t put these down your kitchen sink

ust because something can be poured down a kitchen drain, doesn’t mean it should be poured down a kitchen drain. While some substances may be able to pass through your kitchen drain, they can solidify and build up over time. This can cause blocked drains and damage your kitchen pipes.

Taking care with what you pour down the kitchen drain can help keep your kitchen pipes healthy.

There are some simple things you can do in the kitchen to keep your pipes healthy:

• Bin any food from pots and pans before washing, wipe down with a paper towel. 
• Don’t pour coffee grounds down the drain
• Don’t pour fats and oils down the drain
• Capture food scraps with a sink strainer 
• Don’t let produce stickers get in your piping. 

What can I flush down the toilet?

The toilet is your natural go-to for bathroom junk. However, while some objects were built to be flushed, others can be a ticking time bomb for your piping. It can be hard to work out what can be flushed down the toilet.

The following is a list of items that plumbers sometimes find clogging up a drainpipe:  

• Sanitary items
• Wet wipes
• Condoms
• Razor blades
• Paper towels
• Plastic wrappers
• General rubbish

Flushable wet wipes are another point of contention. While these wipes are advertised as flushable, their effect on water infrastructure across the globe is noticeable. Toilet paper is designed to break down in water, whereas flushable cloth wipes are not. Plumbers around the world have noticed that so-called flushable wipes are damaging pipes and causing blockages.