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Clogged drains and sewer lines have been a common problem every since plumbing was invented. Anytime you have a pipe with water and particles of matter flowing through it, you have the potentiality for clogs. The responsibility for preventing and clearing up clogs and drain cleaning is basically the homeowner's until the problem goes beyond a certain point, at which point a plumber must be called in. The techniques and technology plumbers employ these days is more advanced than it ever was in the past. This allows for speedy discharge of clogs and variety maintenance approaches that really target the problem.
Some clogging ingredients of drains pipes are grease, food, hair, human waste, and miscellaneous dirt and dust particles. These items gradually build up, day after day and year after year. While the water that moves down the drain clears away much of this debris, if a large amount of it enters the drain pipe at once or just accumulates in enough quantity over time, it can cause a clog.
Clogged sewer pipes are another matter. Much larger in diameter, they are often clogged by things like tree roots, debris from construction, or by dirt build up if sections of the pipe becomes punctured or separated. The homeowner can help to prevent or fix drain pipe clogs in a number of ways.
Some good preventative measures include pouring boiling water down each drain in your house once a month, draining cooking grease into cans rather than the sink, cleaning kitchen sink stoppers regularly, and only putting flushable items down the toilet. If a drain does become clogged, commercially available drain unclogging liquids as well as plungers and augers often work well and can be used by those with no plumbing experience.
It's not so easy, however, for your average individual to unclog a sewer pipe. It requires both knowledge of what is blocking the sewer pipe and the ability to take it out, neither of which are easily available to homeowners. If none of the drain unclogging approaches work, or if the problem does seem to be primarily a sewer rather than a drain issue, it's time to call in a plumber.
These days, plumbers have sophisticated means of diagnosing drainage problems and fixing them. Advancements in the field mean that less time is needed for diagnosis of a problem and for a solution to be arrived at. Modern plumbers are a little like doctors, they come in and make a diagnosis, and based on it they give your drain pipes and sewer lines the appropriate treatment.
One diagnostic tool that is quite high tech, more so than many would habitually associate with the plumbing profession, is the flexible fiber optic video camera. This is an advanced digital camera that can be snaked down your drain pipes and even threaded into sewers, allowing plumbers to actually see where blockages occur. The video feed shows plumbers exactly where the problems and blockages are, and can thus provide a very direct, targeted, and often cost effective solution to the homeowner. Pretty neat and futuristic, wouldn't you say? So it's in your best interests these days to ask plumbers if they are up to date on the latest technology. New diagnostic and plumbing repair options such as the one mentioned above can save you time, aggravation, and even money. Along with questions about rates and time needed for the job, be sure and ask about a plumbing company's technological level. It's the 21st century and plumbing is not what it used to be.
