When sewer prevents or blocks wastewater flowing from drainage pipes, the sewer blockage occurs. The water, which is black and thick, is a health hazard, as it is contaminated water and can cause severe risk if exposed to humans or animals. If one had a sewage backup in their basement or backyard, it’s better to go and have a look. And fix it immediately before it affects anyone or anything. Knowing the causes can sorely help one to prevent sewer blockage.
There are no certain reasons why this sewer blockage happens. It might be caused by plenty of reasons. Sometimes they are huge and unexpected. Thus sewer backups can cause severe damage to your house and health, but it’s not the case every time.
So understanding the cause of sewer backup is essential. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to fix the problem. Below mentioned are some of the causes of sewer backups and preventive ideas to control that.
Common Sewer Backup Causes
- Clogged/Blocked Pipes:
Sewage will back up when there is a blockage in the main pipes. And blockage can happen for plenty of reasons. The daily household chores, residue, hair strands, grease, and oil, these all when accumulating in the pipe at a certain point, will start blocking the water flow from the pipes.
- Roots of the tree:
When the tree grows older, the roots start growing in all directions. And some of them even block or make a hole in the sewer pipes making them break or damage. So this breakage or hole can cause leakage in the pipes. They are making it blocked for other pipes which are interconnected.
- Damaged Sewer Pipes:
If the sewer pipes or sewage system is old, then there is more chance of damage as time passes. And they are making it difficult to handle the sewer breakdown. Because earlier he pipes were made of cast iron or clay. Now the norm has changed as the pipes are made of plastic, and the risk is less comparatively.
- Main Sewer Blockage:
If the sewer blockage happens at the main part of the sewer connection, that will cause the sewer backup in all connected pipes and stop the flow of water in pipes from that direction.
- Heavy Rainfall:
This would be the biggest problem of heavy rainfall, which blocks mainly all the sewer pipes with the residue and unwanted particles, while the rainwater flows to all the pipes which connect to the sewage system or drainage system—causing it to block all the pipes.
Preventions and sewer backup:
- Don’t pour grease down the drain.
- Dispose of paper products properly and separately.
- Go for plastic pipe or cut tree roots to prevent tree roots from affecting the sewage system
- Install a proper backwater prevention valve to stop the water flow immediately when blockage happens
- Sewage pump maintenance is very important in the prevention method. Sewer cleaning on an occasional time, using the clog removal once in a while and pumping up the pipes in between, etc.
Sewer video camera inspection:
This technology has been introduced recently; it’s the process where you hire a plumbing company or a specialist to run a video line through your sewer pipes.
Most people opt for a sewer line video inspection only if there is a problem, such as a blockage that can’t be fixed by plunging, liquid drain cleaners, or sewer or drain angering. It is heavy on the pockets, so going for this all the time is difficult. One can try making a DIY sewer video camera inspection.