You were having a nice dinner with all those delicious meals. Afterward, you did the dishwashing without minding all those excess fats and oil going down the drain, thinking that it won’t hurt your drain. Guess what? You’re wrong.
Dumping grease down the drain can be harmful to your plumbing system. A small amount of grease when accumulated over the years can be hazardous. In fact, leaving it unfixed can even damage the entire neighbourhood’s sewer system, prompting you to urgently call an emergency plumbing Croydon professional.
How does grease become a threat?
You might be wondering how grease can pose a risk to your drain. Many people actually believe that grease can easily be eliminated with hot water spraying. But it’s not that easy.
Let’s say for an example — oil can be just a simple liquid flowing down the drain. But once it cools down, oil solidifies and starts sticking to the pipes. As more amounts of oil harden, this will then lead to blockage, and the problem when unresolved, does not even stop there.
Dangerous Effects of Grease to the Pipes
A simple blockage when left untreated can lead to more dangerous problems.
Sewer Clogging
As more and more fats and oil continue to be collected in the pipes, sewer clogging becomes more severe as well. The wastes being drained down would reverse up, hence, leading to a dangerous sanitary problem. This can affect the entire family when left unrepaired.
Unprocessed Sewage Components
Sewage treatment would be easy if every household knows how to properly maintain the plumbing system. But we all know this is unrealistic as there always be a household who overlooks the danger of grease when poured down the drain.
When a huge amount of grease continuously reaches the sewer system, water disposal would tend to go slower and slower. As the efficiency lowers and the problem becomes too much to handle, the integrity of the water supply would be severely compromised. This becomes a problem that can’t be fixed by basic DIY methods.
Compromised Water Treatment
All types of grease, even a regular cooking oil, when dumped down the drain can obstruct water flow. So, how can you tell if water treatment is being compromised by grease?
First, you should be able to smell something bad down the drain. Second, you may hear a gurgling sound. You should also take note if you’ve been recently and accidentally pouring down grease from your previous dishwashing sessions. And lastly, the water drainage seems slower than usual.
How to Fix Drain Problems Related to Grease
A simple solution would be to slowly pour down a gallon of hot water down the drain accompanied with a squirt of dish soap. This approach can reliquefy the solidified oil and fats, making it easy to eliminate them.
But if all else fails and you run out of ideas to fix the problem, that’s where a licensed plumber in Croydon comes in.
