This Week: Clearing Drains (Part 2: Outdoors)

Dec 2 2007 Donny

Diy Donny

The sight of raw sewage dribbling down your driveway is never a pretty one.

But it should never get to that stage as long as you clear blocked drains - an easy job if you spot the tell-tale signs early.

External underground drains can get blocked in the same way as internal drains, which I showed you how to clear last week.

If you have a blockage, you will soon notice the whiff. The external hopper - the bit just under the drain cover - fills and overflows with water which fails to drain away. This is especially obvious during and after heavy rain.

A critical sign is when you start to see toilet paper floating over the drain. Then it is time to act.

Toilet paper is designed to disintegrate in water. Flushing anything else down the loo - such as kitchen roll - can cause major problems, so don't do it, ever.

Sand from monoblock paving can also find its way into the drain system carried by water draining from the surface. You can also have problems with leaves falling from trees in the autumn. Like last week, it is a process of elimination to find the blockage in an outdoor drainage system.

Otherwise you will have the expense of calling in professionals - which is not cheap.

TOOLS YOU'LL NEED

Gloves

Drain auger

Drain rods

Hosepipe

MATERIALS

Disinfectant

Here's how it's done..

1 A hopper overflowing with water can be cleared by hand - but wear rubber gloves. If you can't reach, try flexible drain rods or a garden hose turned on full.

2 If your hopper is clear and the water does not drain, find your nearest inspection chamber to see if it is clear. If it is, go back to the blocked hopper and rod from there.

3 If the inspection chamber is full of water or sewage, use the drain rods to free up the blockage.

4 To check your soil pipe - which links your bathroom to the sewer - open the large inspection hatch at the junction where the branch pipes meet the stack.

5Next, unscrew the inspection hatch.

6 Once the cap has been unscrewed, remove the inner cover and stand back because if there is a blockage, it might have built up some pressure.

7If there is a blockage, insert an auger down the hatch and turn the handle to dislodge it.

8 Job's done

TOP TIP - turn on taps and flush the toilet then check water is free-flowing through inspection chamber.