Effective Tips to Prevent a Blocked Drain: Avoid Clogs and Maintain Flow

According to South East Water, 1.87 million Melburnians flush or drain 2.4 billion litres of wastewater that goes to water recycling plants for treatment. 

If you’ve come across a blocked drain in your toilet, bathtub, shower, or kitchen sink, this can cause unpleasant smells, back up your entire plumbing system, and cause a lot of frustration!

The good thing is there are many ways to prevent a blocked drain from occurring. This blog will be your best guide to avoiding clogs and keeping your water flowing.

Preventing Blocked Drains: Helpful Tips

What is going on in your drain? You might be unaware that your drain can clog from a build-up of solid and semi-solid material over time, so keep tabs on what’s being put in your drain!

For example, using too much toilet paper (or baby wipes that clearly aren’t flushable), using cooking oil, cooking grease, feminine sanitary products, or garden debris. How do you know if you have a blockage?

• Your toilet isn’t flushing
• Your bath or sink empties slowly
• A bad odour is coming from your drains
• Sewage is spilling inside or outside your home

What are Some Things You Can Do to Stop Blocked Drains?

1. Utilise Drain Guards and Strainers

Making use of drain guards and strainers easily stops solids from entering kitchen drains and your household plumbing system. Also known as plug strainers or waste food grinders, drain strainers are mesh devices made from stainless steel and catch any unwanted solids.

In multiple sizes, you can find the best fit for your drain (such as a vanity sink) to avoid pipes or a whole sewer system blocking up.

Clean these regularly, or they can turn into a frustrating blockage! Installing a garbage disposal unit under your kitchen sink is an easier way to dispose of food scraps. Likewise, a drain strainer or cover for storm water drains prevents leaves and debris.

While using your garbage disposal, always run a steady stream of cold water as this carries waste material through your drain system without issues.

2. Avoiding Harmful Chemicals in Drain Cleaning

Drain cleaners can contain harmful chemicals that can damage pipes by weakening the joints or corroding them, impacting the flow of water. In some cases, your drain pipe can collapse or crush.

Chemical overload from the wrong cleaner can release toxic gases, give you chemical burns, or contaminate the groundwater, so it’s a good idea to go with a more natural option, such as vinegar or bicarb soda.

Never pour paint or paint thinner down your drains!

3. Use a Good Quality Plunger

Human waste and toilet paper such as flushable wipes (wet wipes, baby wipes, and paper towels, not so much!) can be handled by a toilet drainage system, but excessively flushing the wrong things can quickly block it up.

When the water level in your toilet gets higher or lower than normal when you flush, a plunger is an excellent, common tool for drain maintenance. So, what plungers are helpful?  Plungers aren’t interchangeable and have different uses!

The common cup: This has a long, firm handle and a cup-shaped structure at the end. By creating pressure on the drain, it helps break up blockages in sinks, tubs, and toilets.

The flange: Designed to be used for toilet drains, they have a cup-like structure at the end and a flap that sticks out of the cup rim. This plunger can create a seal with the surface of your toilet.

4. Schedule Professional Inspections

Hiring a professional plumber for professional inspections (or as soon as you suspect a blockage!) is a surefire way to stop annoying clogs. Heavy-duty equipment, professional-grade chemicals and equipment means you’re getting the best service.

An experienced plumber repairs minor damage removes greasy build-up and checks for leaks and blockages. Regular cleaning helps your pipes to flow freely so clogs don’t interrupt water flow.

5. Clean Your Drains

Cleaning your drains reduces the chances of a build-up of food waste, and the same applies to shower drains. Soap scum, lint, and hair can be removed with 1/2 a cup of baking soda poured down the drain.

Wait around 40 minutes before pouring hot water into the drain; you’ll notice grime and gunk melting away, and your drain will look cleaner and smell better. If the clogging isn’t too far from the drain opening, you can use a bent wire or hanger to clear the drain.

6. Using Hot Water to Maintain Flow

Food waste being flushed down the sink is a common reason behind blocked drains. Oils, grease, and fats from foods block the drains and can solidify over time. Grease can stick to the inside of your pipes!

Even if you’re not actively putting food down the drain, some scraps (such as grease from cooking oil) can still end up clogging your drain.

Use your kettle to slowly pour hot (not boiling!) water down your drains every week to clear the passage and break down solidified waste. It’s also a good idea to transfer any leftover grease, coffee grounds, or oil from plates and utensils into a separate container and throw them in the bin.

What Are Some Causes of Blocked Drains

According to the Water Corporation, flushable items can make their way into your wastewater system. Even some items labelled as “flushable” can be detrimental to your pipes. So, what can’t you flush down a toilet or put down a drain? Let’s look at some and how you can deal with them:

• Grease or cooking fats: You can use warm water and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio to remove grease around the pipes. Use a caustic cleaner to remove stubborn and hardened grease and leave it for an hour.
• Hair. You can drain a cup of bleach into the drains; being acidic, it can disintegrate hair. Clear the drains with hot water at least once a month.
• Toiletries: Use a plunger to unblock the drains, run hot water to soften the blockage and pour dishwashing liquid to remove it.
• Tree roots: Expert plumbers who specialise in drain cleaning have power tools and CCTV cameras to prevent further damage to your plumbing.
• Leaves and twigs: Clean your roof gutters seasonally, and be aware of pests such as birds and possums as they may carry plant seeds.
• Foreign objects: Contact an expert plumber to do a CCTV scan to extract the object out of your pipes.
• Heavy rain and storms. Ensure that linens and clothes are kept far away from the area of backup if it happens inside your home. Call a plumber to identify the source of the backup.
• Broken pipes: a plumber can replace the broken pipe; sometimes, relining or re-patching is necessary.
• Poor installation: Incorrect pipe sizing, drains laid wrong, and poor workmanship, in general, can cause blocked drains. Call the plumber in question if it is still under warranty or get a second opinion from a plumbing service provider such as Solutions Plumbing.

Struggling with blockages in the bathroom? Here are some smart ways you can prevent hair clogs in the shower!

• Brush your hair before bathing or using the shower. Loose hairs aren’t as likely to end up in your drain.
• Place stray hairs on the edge of your bathtub to dispose of later instead of letting them go down the drain.
• Use a steel mesh cup in your shower to catch any hair.
• You can place a fabric softener sheet over your drain; when hair sticks to the sheet, dispose of it!

Although some of these tips sound straightforward, sometimes calling up a plumber can fix the situation quicker.

If you’re dealing with multiple build-ups or clogs, this can be tedious and tricky. An experienced plumbing team tackles a severe blockage, identifies potential issues, preventive measures, and comes up with a solution.

We provide expert solutions for blocked drains in Lalor, Moonee Ponds, Craigieburn, Bundoora, Heidelberg, and Plenty to keep your plumbing hassle-free.

Dealing With Blocked Drains? Call Solutions Plumbing!

Passionate about plumbing always, Solutions Plumbing is proud to provide community members with professional, high-end plumbing services. Whether you need support with Blockages, Drainage & Repairs, Gas Services, CCTC Inspections, or General Plumbing, we are experienced and licensed.

With over 12 years of experience, we specialise in a range of plumbing and work without cutting corners. For a quick response, contact us today by calling 0448 535 626 or email info@solutionsplumbing.com.au for a free quote. We offer a 24/7 emergency response.