Posts Tagged ‘Watchung’

Easy Drain and Sewer Maintenance: Some Pointers from Watchung

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

When it comes to your Watchung home’s plumbing, one of the most important things you can do is perform regular drain and sewer maintenance. Those pipes are vital to maintaining a steady flow of waste water out of your home – if something goes wrong, you’ll regret not fixing it earlier. Here are some easy strategies for maintaining your drains and sewer lines:

  • Avoid Unflushable Items – Some items are designed to be flushed down the toilet. Everything else is not. If something isn’t specifically designed to go down your toilet, don’t put it down there. This includes paper towels, napkins, any kind of food, floss, or hair, and anything else that should go in a garbage can. Toilets may seemingly whisk everything away in one flush, but a lot of that stuff can get stuck on its trip to the sewer.
  • Clear Drains Weekly – You can’t clean your sewer line without professional help, but you can do your best to keep drains clear on their way out. Use boiling hot water and lemon juice or a mixture of baking soda and vinegar once a week to clear out the drains of any excess build up. Also, avoid putting any grease or other gunk down the drain that might stick to food particles and clog the drains.
  • Have Slow Drains Inspected – If a drain in your home slows down significantly, have it inspected. It might be a bit of hair stuck in a trap somewhere, or it could be your sewer line starting to clog. It’s better to know now than to wait and fall victim to a much larger problem in weeks or months.
  • Use Drain Strainers – Don’t let anything go directly down the drain. Use strainers to block food, hair or other stuff from getting into the sink or bathtub drains. Hair in particular, when mixed with grease or soap can become a glue-like substance in your drains.

Most drain and sewer maintenance is preventative and common sense. Pay attention to the effects your actions have on the water lines leaving your house and you can greatly reduce the risk that something goes wrong in the future.

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What You Can Do to Prevent Problems in Your Drains: A Tip From Deptford

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

When you look at a drain in your Deptford home, it seems fairly simple. You pour things down and they disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Of course, that logic goes out the window the second the drain starts to backup or overflow. There are things you can do to avoid such problems though and most of the time, they cost nothing and take only a few minutes a week.

Simple Household Drain Maintenance

The first step to avoiding a problem is not putting anything down your drain that might cause said problem in the first place. Specifically, avoid grease, food, or other objects that might build up in your drains if not properly disposed.

Food can be broken down by a garbage disposal or, even better, placed in a compost pile. Grease, however, should never enter your sink at all. Pour all old kitchen grease into a coffee pot or bucket and dispose of it carefully. It can be thrown away in some places, or it can be recycled. Whatever you do, though, don’t pour it down the drain.

Another easy tip to keeping those drains clear is to pour a natural compound down every now and then like dishwashing liquid or vinegar. The key is to do it preventatively.

If you wait until a full blown clog occurs, vinegar may not get the job done and you’ll need to call a plumber who has a snake or other equipment to get the clog out.

Professional Maintenance

While regular flushing of your drain with hot water and vinegar allows you to clear out the vast majority of the stuff that builds up there every week, it’s also a good idea to call a professional for annual maintenance. Such annual maintenance involves visual inspection, professional grade clearing of food and waste products and a full flush. Done properly, this will minimize the cost of future repairs and replacements and keep your plumbing running smoothly for years to come.

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