Blocked Drains - Clay Sewer Pipes
Many houses in Brisbane still have clay terracotta pipes used for the sewer system. There is nothing wrong with this and clay pipes have been used since medieval times, but care needs to be taken if you have a blockage.
How to fix a blocked drain?
There are 2 common ways to fix blocked drains ; other than digging them up of course.
The first is with the use of a plumber's eel, which is a flexible rod that is pushed down the drain to the block and rotated to break up the blockage.
The second is with a Water Jetter where a hose with a nozzle is pushed down the pipe and high-pressure water is used to break up the blockage.
Can you damage a clay pipe?
You bet you can. Clay pipes have a glaze on the inside that helps create a smooth surface. A smooth surface obviously helps waste move along a pipe easily and minimises the risk of anything getting caught. If you damage this glaze then there is more chance that toilet paper and other objects may get caught on the side. Once one thing is caught, it doesn't take long before something else joins it and before you know it, you have a serious blockage that needs to be dealt with.
Plumber Eels are essentially flexible metal rod that is manually pushed into a pipe which can easily create scratches and gouges into the side of a clay pipe. So great care needs to be taken when using these to ensure that this doesn't happen.
So should you just use a Water Jetter? Unfortunately, these can also cause the same issue. Many of the cheaper Water Jetters out there have a very high pressure with low flow. These are notorious for causing damage to clay pipes. To ensure you minimise damage to a clay sewer pipe, you need to use a low-pressure, high-flow water jetter.
So don't have a plumber come out to fix a blocked drain only to have them create a future problem. Make sure that you hire a plumber who is a blocked drain specialist and has invested in the best technology available. In other words, hire Reline Solutions.
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