Preventing Sewer Problems
Since repairs can be costly, it's a good idea to do everything you can to keep sewer problems from happening in the first place. Fortunately, there is a lot you can do.
Your options vary in complexity and cost, ranging from simple maintenance to making some physical changes to your house and property. Many you can do yourself. Others require complicated or large-scale changes to your house and/or its plumbing that must be done by a licensed professional who can ensure that the work is done correctly and according to all applicable codes.
Keeping Things Clean
A Fine Mess
Avoid using anything that claims to keep plumbing lines clear by dissolving grease. This includes commercial drain cleaners as well as such fixes as pouring vinegar and baking soda down drains. Oftentimes, these products merely dislodge grease clogs and move them to other areas where they can cause the same problems. Your best bet for preventing clogs is to keep materials that cause them out of your pipes.
This is the easiest way to prevent sewer problems, and it boils down to one main effort: not putting things down your pipes that shouldn't go down them. This includes…
Cooking grease and oil. Bacon grease, fat from browning hamburger meat…you name it. Keep it out of your drains. Put it in a carton, let harden if necessary, and put it out with your garbage. Another approach is to let it cool and pour it into old newspapers. Again, throw it away in your trash.
Paper products, such as paper towels, moist towelettes, handy wipes, disposable towels, diapers, napkins, and tampons. The only truly flushable paper product is toilet paper. Other products might say they're flushable, but why take the chance?
Kitchen solids, such as watermelon rinds, potato peels, corn kernels, eggshells, and chicken bones. It's also not a good idea to put them down a garbage disposal, as they don't break down finely enough to easily pass through lateral lines. If you have a garbage disposal, avoid using it to excess. Disposals shred solid materials into finer pieces, but they don't liquefy them. Nor do they keep grease out of plumbing systems. Don't put anything down a disposal that is too hard or large to be thoroughly ground up.
Other oils, greases, cleaning fluids, anti-freeze, thinners, paints, solvents, and similar chemicals. If your community has a hazardous waste disposal program, check with officials there for disposal recommendations. If it doesn't, throwing it away might be your best bet. Check with your waste hauler first to see what they'll accept.
All sink, tub, and floor drains should be fitted with baskets or strainers to catch debris. Inspect them often, and clear them regularly.
In the bathroom, keep sinks with pop-up stoppers clog-free by routinely cleaning out the hair and other material that collects in them. Long tweezers or hemostats—you can find them at most hardware and hobby stores—work well for this. What comes out of bathroom sink drains can be pretty obnoxious, especially if you haven't cleaned them before, so you might want to wear latex or plastic gloves, and even a face mask if you're particularly squeamish. To prevent buildup, lift stoppers out of drains periodically and rinse them off.
De-Rooting
In the Nick of Time
The first signs of root clogs and other sewer clogs include slow-flowing drains, toilets that make gurgling noises when flushed, and wet areas around floor drains that appear after you do the laundry. If you take action when you see these signs, you might be able to avoid a complete sewer-line blockage.
Trees are believed to be the root (pardon the pun) of more than 50 percent of all sewer line clogs. Simply put, roots love sewer lines, and will readily grow toward them, especially lines with openings caused by deterioration and movement.
Once inside a pipe, roots continue growing. If not disturbed, they'll eventually fill the pipe with hair-like root masses wherever they enter. These masses are what grease, tissue paper, and other debris get caught in.
Because root growth in sewer pipes is such a common problem, it's a good idea to have your lateral line cleaned on a regular basis, either by mechanical means or by using products that kill the roots inside pipes without harming trees.
Experts recommend visually inspecting lateral lines to determine the extent of the damage before treating them. This is done by snaking a small video camera into the line. Check your yellow pages under the sewer contractor heading for companies that do these inspections.
Finally, don't plant trees and shrubs with shallow, spreading root systems anywhere near lateral sewer lines. If you don't know where your lateral line is, check the survey documents you received when you bought your home. If you don't have them, your city planning or public works department might have a copy.
Sewer laterals usually run in straight lines, so it's fairly easy to get a general idea of their location. Simply find the clean-out. If it's near your house, draw a straight line from the clean-out to the street. If it's near the street, do the same thing in reverse.
Modify Internal Plumbing
Making some changes in the plumbing inside your house can significantly reduce the chance of basement floods caused by wastewater backups. The following chart shows the most common fixes, with their advantages and disadvantages. Before implementing any of them, talk to a plumber about the most appropriate approach for your situation.
| Fix | Advantage | Disadvantage |
| Floor drain plug | Cheap and easy | Water pressure can force plug out. Screw-in plug can cause pipe break due to pressure buildup, allowing sewage seepage through foundation cracks. |
| Floor drain standpipe | Inexpensive, easy to install, can be left in if floor drain isn't needed | Flooding can still occur, as water will seek next higher opening. If not correctly installed, could leak at connection. Drain can't be used until standpipe is removed. |
| Backup flow valve | Blocks drain pipes temporarily, prevents flow into house | More expensive, effectiveness depends on type of valve. |
| Overhead sewer protection | Most reliable | Expensive, needs alternate power source to run during power outage. |
Floor Drain Plug
Floor drain plugs, which are placed into the floor drain below the grate, stop sewer backups where they first occur. One type of plug operates by tightening bolts on the metal end pieces. This causes a rubber gasket to expand and seal the plug in the drain,but it also stops water from flowing in either direction. If something overflows in your basement, the water will stay there unless you remove the plug.
Other plugs have floats that allow water to drain out of the basement. When the sewer backs up, the float rises and plugs the drain.
Standpipe
Standpipes are common alternatives to floor drain plugs. They consist of an open-ended pipe that fits into a metal and rubber gasket placed into the floor drain. When the sewer backs up, the water stays in the pipe instead of flooding your basement.
One advantage that standpipes have over floor drain plugs is that the overflow pipe acts as a safety valve. As such, it equalizes water pressure, which reduces the chances of pipe breaks. However, having a pipe sticking up from a drain presents a safety hazard, and water pressure can build up enough to blow a standpipe out of a floor drain. Backups can also be deep enough to overflow the standpipe.
Backup-Flow Valves
Backup-flow valves come in various configurations. Most common are flap, or check, valves, which open automatically to allow flow out of the house and close when the flow reverses. Mechanical, or gate, valves do basically the same thing, but must be operated by hand. Of the two, gate valves provide a stronger seal. Some valves incorporate the advantages of both types.
Backup-flow valves can be installed on a lateral line. This approach typically requires a plumbing permit and digging up your basement floor. They can also be installed on each plumbing fixture. This approach is easier and cheaper; however, these valves typically don't work as well.
Local codes and/or building requirements generally specify the type of backup-flow device you can install. Check with local officials before installing them.
Depending on where you live, your city might pay a portion of the cost for installing a backup-flow valve on a lateral line.
Overhead Sewers
Overhead sewers, which run along basement ceilings, are the most effective way to prevent sewer backups as they eliminate the connection between the main sewer system and the basement. With these systems, all above-ground sewage flows by gravity into the lateral line. Below-grade sewage is collected in an ejection pit. From here, it's pumped up to the house sewer line.
These systems are costly to install, but they're a good choice for homes with finished basements. However, they need electricity to operate. If there's a power outage, and there's no alternative power source to operate the pump, basement plumbing fixtures can't be used.
Keep Extra Water Out
As mentioned, illegal connections to sanitary sewers, such as footing tiles, down-spouts, and sump pumps, can overload sewer systems. In addition, defective lateral lines can collect ground water.
If your house has a sump pump to handle ground water buildup, it should discharge through a pipe in your foundation wall to the outside of your home. Downspouts and footing tiles should discharge to a ditch or storm sewer. If you can't tell where they're discharging, contact your public works department and see if they'll do an inspection. If necessary, they'll run a dye test to track drain discharge.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Common Household Disasters © 2005 by Paul Hayman and Sonia Weiss. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit the Idiot's Guide web site or call 1-800-253-6476.
