5 Easy Tips on How to Efficiently Prevent Blocked Drain

A blocked drain can be a serious problem and a real burden. It results in poor drainage. Often, bacteria breeds in that. It also causes a foul and pervasive smell and might also result in flooding and cause health problems. Hence it becomes our foremost duty to keep the kitchen and bathroom free from dirt. Since they are used daily a lot of times they tend to get dirty rather quickly. This problem can be expensive and time consuming if not detected and fixed in the initial stage. So to avoid these problems it’s advisable to conduct regular drainage checks. One should call the plumber as often as possible. Though a person will have to incur some cost initially, it will save him from incurring huge expenses in the long run.

So before people end up in discovering a big blockage in their pipeline causing them a major inconvenience, they should remember few precautions to be taken and few procedures to be followed once in a while that will free them from such unnecessary headaches. Inefficient plumbing and improper installation of pipes can be a major cause of a blocked drain. Make sure the best quality pipe has been chosen to avoid plumbing issues. Take care that pipes are laid in straight lines for as much of the route as possible and where a change in direction is necessary the bend should be less than ninety degrees.

Ways to Prevent a Drain From Getting Blocked

1. Use a mesh screen – It is advisable to keep a plug screen or a drain screen over the plughole especially in bathrooms and kitchen sinks to check their debris from going down the drain and preventing a blocked drain. People should ensure that food waste, hairs, soaps, plastics, packets of shampoo and other beauty products and other non-soluble waste are caught in the plugged screen before entering the drainage system. If one does not have a drain screen one should remove the substances that can create blockage after having a shower or using the toilet. Even the leftover food should not be flushed down the sing since they might cause your blockage later. One can use a popup stopper which acts like a magnet and prevents hair dental floss and other such stuffs from getting into the drain.

2. Avoid using liquids like oil and grease – Liquids like grease or oil should not be poured down the drain since they might solidify and congeal and form a clog. Other household wastes might get stuck in it causing a bigger clog. They also settle at the bottom of the pipes blocking the passage which cannot be cleared easily. Many a time people casually pour cooking oil down the drains. It should be avoided since it’s a major cause of a blocked drain.

3. Use hot water – Occasionally you need to run hot water through the drains for about a minute after they have been used. This clears away waste materials left behind in the drains. Use the hottest water possible. Avoid using cold water because it tends to bind the materials creating bigger clogs resulting in a blocked drain again.one can also add a bit of baking soda to the hot water to augment the cleaning power. Baking soda acts as a cleaning agent and absorbs a foul smell. It also breaks down the sticky surfaces. One can add an ounce of vinegar into the pipe too and wash it down with hot water after about 30 minutes.

4. Bacteria can be put to work – Buy drain cleaning bacteria which is biodegradable and non-corrosive in the powdered or liquid form and add to your drain. This enables the bacteria to consume any organic matter present in the drain and prevents causing a blocked drain. Since its non-corrosive it will not deteriorate the condition of the pipes. One should do according to the instructions that have been given on the package. It is advisable to put some bacteria into the drain when it will not be used by people for quite some time. This gives the bacteria time to work.

5. Pouring setting compounds into a drain must be avoided – Do not rinse setting compounds like grout, cement or mortar mix down the drain since they solidify by a chemical reaction and settles even under water resulting in a clog. Instead rinse them with water and wait until the compound settles at the bottom of the container then discharge the rinse water anywhere and dump the remaining sludge into a garbage dump.

If you can maintain these points it becomes easier for you to deal with the blocked drain problems and fix them soon.