Have you ever stopped to think about where all that wastewater goes when you pull the plug?
Few people do, as we are conditioned to be consumers, part of a throwaway society where convenience is the main aim. We take many things for granted until something goes wrong. And even then, it's usually someone else's fault and we find an expert to fix it.
One such problem is a grease-clogged drain. This is a surprisingly common plumbing problem, and yet we keep making the same mistake time after time!
When this happens, you'll know about it; the stench from a grease-clogged pipe is unpleasant, to say the least. Then, depending on where the problem is, you might face the nightmare of overflowing drains.
We're going to explore the problem in detail to discover what causes the problem and suggest some methods to resolve it.
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The main culprits are fat and grease, but there are all sorts of other materials involved.
Think about what happens when you finish a meal. All the dishes are taken to be washed up, and small scraps of leftover food are washed away down the plug hole.
Whether you have a dishwasher or wash the dishes in the sink by hand, those scraps ideally need to be scraped off first, but the truth is that not everyone does this. And, even if you have a food waste bin, small food scraps still end up in your pipes.
Is your drain blocked? Then this is most probably why!
Get a quick quoteIt will come as no surprise that most of these come from the cooking processes we use, such as baking and frying. Lard (animal fat) is less commonly used than it once was but is still fairly popular. Vegetable fats and oils are widely used for cooking our food, and these are washed down our drains every day in mind-boggling quantities.
The trouble is the fat and grease are in liquid form or broken down by detergents or dish soap when they enter the kitchen drain, as the warm water helps them to flow. However, once inside the drain pipes they begin to cool down, accumulate, and set solid. This allows debris like hair, egg shells, food scraps, dirt, skin cells, coffee grounds, and all kinds of nasty stuff to become trapped in the pipes.
And if you have a washing machine waste pipe attached to your kitchen sink drain pipe, then all the dirt, hair and fibres from this will only make the problem worse.
One surprising cause of blocked drains is the humble bar of soap that we use to wash our hands. This is particularly the case with bathroom sinks, where soap coagulates in the walls of the pipes along with hairs. Many people also keep a bar of soap in the kitchen, contributing to the accumulation of fat.
Over a prolonged period, the drain pipes become restricted as more and more debris becomes trapped, and other greasy substances form new layers of fat over the top.
It may come as a shock to learn that most soap is traditionally made from tallow (beef fat) obtained from slaughterhouses. Thankfully, fat-free soaps are widely available these days, which is great news for vegetarians and vegans, as well as our drains!
The subject of soap is relevant as all the fat, oil and grease (known in the drain cleaning business as FOG) react with the surface of drain pipes and sewers, water, calcium, and fatty acids in a process known as saponification, effectively turning into a giant bar of soap!
Not that anyone would wish to use this to scrub their hands.
This natural process is similar to that used by soap makers going back hundreds of years, where lye was traditionally added to animal fat to produce bars of soap.
Often, the first sign of a grease clogged drain is the smell. It is truly awful, as this stuff has often been decaying for months or years as bacteria builds up along with the debris.
In the bathroom or kitchen sink, you'll hear gurgling noises and the water will run slowly. You might also find that you have standing water when you pull out the plug, meaning that the pipe is totally blocked and the water can't go anywhere!
It's one thing when there's a blocked drain inside your house, maybe in the kitchen or bathroom. However, it's quite another matter when the problem is in your outside drain.
This is more of a problem in towns and cities where large quantities of fat and grease accumulate in the drains and sewers, although it can happen almost anywhere. The issue is worsened by the food waste that is flushed into the system by restaurants, cafes, bars, and food processing factories.
To make things ten times worse, other types of debris become caught in the mass of greasy substances, most of which should never be found in drains: sanitary products, disposable nappies, paper towels, condoms, wet wipes, cotton buds etc.
An accumulated block of debris and fat can set as hard as concrete, and few homeowners stand any chance of moving this without employing a professional drain cleaner.
In some cases, these fatbergs, as they have come to be known, are enormous: In 2017, a fatberg was discovered in Whitechapel, London. This monster weighed around 130 tonnes and measured 250 metres. And this is by no means a rare phenomenon, and it's suspected that another one lurking in the Southbank area of London is even bigger than the Whitechapel example.
The cost of removing these blockages can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds, and it's estimated that the total cost to break down and remove the Whitechapel fatberg was around £2 million, taking at least two months to clear working seven days a week.
It's in your best interests to avoid causing blocked drains, not only because of the inconvenience but also because you may be fined by your local authority or water company.
While fines are usually aimed at restaurants and food factories, homeowners can be targeted as well if it can be proved that they have contributed to a blockage. These can cost a lot to remove and pipes are often damaged, not to mention the possibility of localised flooding.
Then there's the issue of who is responsible for drains, depending on whether you are a tenant or a homeowner, in a terraced or semi-detached house, and where your boundaries are.
Suffice to say, it's best to avoid these legal matters if at all possible! And that means keeping your drains flowing freely. We have already covered responsibility of shared drains in a previous article.
So, let's look at how to do this.
Get a quick quoteA blocked drain can be a real nuisance, and the best way to resolve it is to avoid blocking them up in the first place! We'll look into ways of preventing this in a moment, but for those saying that's all very well, but I have a drain blocked by grease and fat right now! here are some helpful tips:
While it might seem an obvious (and cheap!) remedy to remove grease and dissolve fat, opinions are divided on whether using very warm water actually works.
If the grease clog isn't severe, there's a chance that boiling water might do the trick. However, there are no guarantees. There are also several risks involved here that you should be aware of before trying this method.
First, do you have metal pipes? When you pour boiling hot water down these pipes they become extremely hot and the grease and fat start to dissolve.
This sounds like good news, but it's likely that all the fat and gunk will simply move further along the pipe and become lodged in a less accessible place. This will probably be more difficult, and costly, to fix!
Secondly, if you have UPVC pipes, pouring hot water down them may melt and soften the joints, resulting in leaks.
Finally, there's a clear risk of scalding when carrying and pouring boiling hot water. You may be tempted to fill a pan as your kettle isn't big enough. A large saucepan of boiling hot water is heavy and dangerous. If you do use this method, be extremely careful!
Also, as an afterthought, consider how many times you pour boiling water (or very hot water) down your kitchen sink anyway. Perhaps you drain pasta or rice here once or twice a week, maybe even more? If the boiling water method worked well, surely this would sort out your grease clogged drain?
The honest answer is yes and no! On the whole, though, they are generally thought of as a temporary fix by professional drain cleaners.
First, let's deal with the safety issues:
Most commercial drain cleaners contain highly corrosive and toxic chemicals. If you splash these on your skin, get them in your eyes, breathe the fumes, or swallow them you could be in real trouble. In addition, they are extremely harmful to the environment, so should be used sparingly, if at all.
Because of this, it's essential that you take proper precautions when using these products.
It's also best to avoid using them in showers or toilets where there is standing water, as there is a real risk of toxic fumes (chlorine gas) being released, especially if the drain cleaner mixes with detergents, bleach or other cleaning fluids.
There are three main types; caustic, oxidizing and acid cleaners. However, they all rely on a chemical reaction that creates heat, effectively dissolving the fats into smaller pieces and allowing them to be carried away.
Again, this may simply carry the blockage further down the drain pipe, storing up a bigger problem for another time.
Another problem with using a chemical cleaner is that it can corrode your metal or plastic pipes, particularly when used regularly.
In this case, there's a strong possibility that your plumbing system will collapse, and that's a far worse issue than having blocked drains.
So, while they can be effective, they do have their faults.
If it is used safely as a one-off fix, it can do the trick. In fact, many commercial drain cleaners use caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) as their main ingredient. If you can get hold of a small amount of this substance it may be cheaper than paying for expensive brand drain cleaners.
When combined with the coat hanger method (see below) and hot water*, caustic soda can fix a grease clogged drain, provided the blockage isn't too bad in the first place.
*The hot water should be poured down the sink after the caustic soda mixture has been used. Only mix caustic soda with cold water! Always handle this substance with extreme care.
When grease clogs your pipes, you need a quick solution. Many people instinctively resort to the hot water method we mentioned first, but, as we saw, it isn't always the best option.
And you may not want to shell out for a chemical solution that may or may not be effective, and which carries a health warning!
So, here are some tried and tested methods of clearing blocked drains that you might like to use:
It is possible to clear a drain blocked with grease using a homemade cleaner. Here's a typical method that thousands of people have found helpful:
There are many variations on this, such as mixing the baking soda with salt or borax or even using a mixture of all three. Vinegar removes the fat from the walls of the pipe, so this is an essential part of any home remedy.
Some people suggest leaving the mix for half an hour or even overnight for especially stubborn blockages.
If you have an old wire coat hanger (or something similar) you may be able to shift the blockage by poking it! Snip the hanger with wire cutters and straighten it out, then use pliers to bend one end into a hook.
You may be able to dislodge the blockage or at least pull out some of the debris.
Although many professional plumbers advise against this method, it can be successful if the blockage is within reach. It may also be more effective in a shower or bathroom sink clogged with hair.
You should also take care not to get the hanger stuck in the pipe, or push too hard and crack or damage the pipes in any way.
This useful bit of equipment is made from a coiled metal wire that is pushed down the pipe to clear the obstruction. It also clears the pipe walls as it goes, allowing water to flow easily.
For anyone experiencing persistent blocked pipes, this could be a great investment.
A larger type is used for external drains, usually called a plumber's auger.
While it's unlikely that most people will have an air compressor at home, it's not impossible. However, this is another piece of equipment that needs to be used with care.
There are many different models and types, some costing only a few pounds and others running to a few hundred pounds. The cheaper versions are often hand-held devices that are not much more than a glorified sink plunger (see below), but the more expensive ones are more likely to be part of a professional plumber's kit.
However, the principle is the same: a nozzle is placed over the plug hole and air is forced through the pipes to clear the blockage. The electric-powered models are run for between three and five minutes, while the pump-action ones may take a while longer, depending on the severity and size of the problem.
It's important to keep the overflow covered while using this equipment, as there's a good chance that there will be a blowback of foul-smelling water and debris. Many DIY plumbers have discovered this the hard way!
One of the most effective of all the above methods, a plunger often does the trick! These handy tools force air through the pipe to dislodge the obstruction.
However, even this method has some rules:
If this doesn't work, try a combination of the above methods and try again.
Get a quick quoteSure, it's an overused saying, but it's true: the best way to deal with clogged drains is to keep them flowing freely in the first place!
A few adjustments to your behaviour, along with minimal investment, will stop this from becoming a problem in future.
Here are a few ideas for you to consider:
If you follow these simple rules then your kitchen drain will flow freely and there's less chance of your outside drain becoming clogged!
You can save yourself the hassle of having to clear a grease clogged drain, and maybe even the expense of hiring a professional drain cleaner.
We've explored the reasons behind grease-blocked pipes and how to dissolve fat in drains.
So, if you have a drain blocked by fat, grease, and foul-smelling debris, you have an idea of how to fix the issue. You also know how to go about preventing the problem in the future!
There are several ways to tackle the job yourself, and most are worth a try if you suspect that the obstruction isn't too bad. We have already covered one smelly outside drains remedy in a previous article.
Also, most of these methods are straightforward and don't require a lot of effort or expense on your part.
The main thing is to take every precaution when using boiling water, caustic soda or a commercial drain cleaner. The last thing you need is to add to your problems by scalding yourself or getting a chemical burn.
Ideally, use the less hazardous methods as they can be equally as effective and there is less risk of injuring yourself. In fact, using baking powder, vinegar and warm water once in a while will improve the water flow and keep your drains clear, and there's very little risk of harming yourself in the process.
Finally, know when it's time to quit! If you have a drain blocked with a massive grease clog that just won't budge, or the problem is located in an outside drain on your property, it's time to contact a professional drain cleaner.
