Sewer Clearing in Thurso

Do you notice your sink is taking ages to drain or perhaps you’re perceiving a funny smell oozing from it? You don’t have to panic as this is most definitely a blockage. Unblocking your drain requires just a little effort and chances are, you might not need to reach out to a professional. This blockage may be in your home’s internal or external drains but so far the the drain is within your property, it’s entirely your responsibility to make sure that they are well maintained and repaired (if the need arises).

Generally, outside drain problems are more likely to be harder to fix when compared to your average blocked sink. But it isn’t impossible should you have the relevant tools as well as knowledge. In this post, we’re going to consider a safe and effective approach to unblock a drain outside. Let’s take a look!

1. Pull the cover off the drain. This may require the use of a flat head screwdriver to remove the drain’s cover. If that isn’t working, you can try tying a rope around the cover to give you a good coverage
2. Identify the blockage. This is usually messy, but you simply have to do it if you wish to save some money. Simply reach down to remove as many of the blockage that you can reach as possible. This will make it easier for you to remove the rest with a drain rod
3. Use the drain rod. Simply put the drain rod inside and apply pressure. You’ll have to twist the rod in a clockwise direction to get into the blockage. Depending on how big or stubborn the drain is, it may take a while to get through it.

Sewer is simply a set of pipes or drains that’s usually underground and whose primary function is to remove waste water as well as other waste materials. Generally, there are three main types of modern sewer systems and they include sanitary sewers ( also commonly referred to as foul sewers), storm sewers or surface water sewers as well as combined sewers. Now let’s take a look at each of the sewer types!

• Sanitary sewers or foul sewers. These are the sewer systems that are mainly incorporated to transport waste water and other waste matter from both homes and businesses to waste water treatment plants. Normally, they include pipes, manholes as well as pumping stations. Their function is, however, not only to carry waste water to treatment plants, but also to maintain the water quality as this is essential for public health. Here, gravity is commonly used to remove the waste water. However, in low lying areas, pumps can be incorporated especially when the waste water needs to reach an area that’s at a higher elevation
• Storm sewers or surface water sewers. The primary function of this sewer system is to carry rain water as well as melting snow ( unlike sanitary sewers that are designed to carry waste water) from the roofs and roads and then direct it straight into the streams, rivers and also other water bodies. These sewer systems can get clogged with leaves, litter and other debris which can ultimately lead to flooding.
• Combined sewer. As the name suggests, these sewers are combined. This implies that the make use of a single pipe to carry both waste water and storm runoff water to wastewater treatment plants. These aren’t very common anymore as the sewer can overflow especially when there’s a lot of rain which makes the system incapable to handling both the waste water and surface water.

Before you start digging, you should know sewer lines are required to be buried within certain specifications and it’s your responsibility to find out what these specifications are. If you’re thinking about the appropriate depth of sewer line, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post we’re going to consider how deep a main sewer line should be buried underground.

First and foremost, you should understand that sewer lines are simply the intestinal systems of a house or property. Their primary function is to totally remove waste water and other waste matter from your drains, toilet, shower, dishwasher as well as the exterior faucets. With this in mind, we can then move to our main concern which is the sewer line depth. In a world that’s perfect, you’d be allowed to to just dig your home’s sewer line deep enough to cover it with a thin layer of sod. However, if you happen to reside in an environment with deep running cold, this inclement weather may just freeze up your waste right in the pipe due to the fact that it’s placed too close to the surface where there’s not enough warmth. This could also extend to other harsh weather conditions such as heavy wind and hurricanes which are able to tear out ground deep down and even more so, if it were to pull up trees that are close by with deep roots. Hence, the need to get the appropriate depth of sewer lines right.

Sewer lines depth can vary greatly - they can be as shallow as 12 to 30 and can be as deep as 6+ feet. This is often determined by the climate.

Depending on the size and location of the blockage, a blocked drain may be fixed by simply removing the build-up. This can be done either by using drain cleaner or physically removing the blockage. If the blockage is very serious or located within the pipes themselves, you will need to contact a plumber.