Commercial drains are prone to blockage, but the cause of the blockage is highly dependent on how the drains are treated on your premises. Thankfully, it is fairly easy to spot signs of drain blockages and they can range from things like unpleasant odours to much more concerning consequences. We’ll go over what causes blockages in this guide and also discuss methods of clearing your drains below. Take it from the experts that handle commercial drain unblocking quite often – blockages are common but they are avoidable. The most effective way to prevent the things that cause blockages is to invest in drain maintenance. But let’s begin by discussing what the most typical culprits are…
Common causes of blocked drains
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Debris
This is one of the most typical causes of blocked commercial drains. Debris may be displaced by natural materials like twigs and foliage, or things flushed down internally that shouldn’t be. Whether we’re talking about natural debris or an overload of sanitary towels, all these things can block the normal flow of water through the drains. Some debris is perfectly normal and unharmful, but if you leave things to accumulate for too long then you’ll have a problem on your hands. Similar to the work of cleaning your grease traps, commercial drains are under a lot of pressure to perform and therefore need extensive care to handle that accumulation.
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Grease & Fat
This is another form of debris that is normally flushed down the drains of commercial properties. Excessive amounts of fat and grease continually find their way into commercial pipes because of the nature of work that is usually done here. Kitchens, restaurants, pubs, and many other similar commercial premises have to manage large amounts of food and food products every day. This includes the fats and oils needed to cook the food and it tends to negatively impact your drains and pipework. Fats and grease may wash down the drain in a liquid form, initially. However, they turn into condensed globs of sludge in the cold drains and pipework. This can build up into blockage-causing lumps in the drain and this needs professional drain cleaning to address it.
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Heavy rainfall and stormwater
Flooding caused by rainfall or severe storms can impact commercial drainage systems to the extent of causing blockages. Stormwater collects leaves, mud and other materials that naturally find their way into drainage systems. During the stormy season, many drainage systems suffer the impact of this because they aren’t designed to handle this amount of debris. This is also when Riverland drain repair experts are needed the most because frequent rains and storms are likely to cause localised flooding.
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Water flow problems
Water flows where gravity wants it to go. That means that it will collect in areas where there is the greatest force. Your commercial pipe system is supposed to be installed in a way that encourages proper water flow. In situations where it isn’t, there will be inconsistent water flow, slow drainage cell and faulty drainage systems.
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Broken pipes
When pipes become cracked and break, water is unable to flow freely, which may cause the pipe to collapse and the drain to become blocked. The causes of broken pipes can be through simple old age, or they could have been incorrectly installed; alternatively, pipes can be damaged by tree roots, which can cause a lot of damage before the problem is identified. Underground pipe repairs can be expensive and hugely disruptive, depending on how easy or difficult it is to access the area that’s broken.
Drain cleaning methods
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Drain snaking
An age-old technique for highly experienced drain unclogging has always relied on drain snaking. It may be the first point of action for conventional plumbers because of how effective it is. It involves the work of sliding a cable, equipped with an auger head, down pipework to locate the cause of the issue quickly. This method is preferred because it isn’t invasive and won’t cause any damage. Even with this depth of inspection ability, drain snaking can easily reach very deeply into any drain which helps to provide a more advanced inspection.
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Drain jetting
The next best-preferred method for removing blockages from drains and pipes is high-powered drain jetting. This is also called hydro-jetting and this process uses a stream of highly pressurised water to break away at the build-up and clean away at the drain. The spray of pressurised water can be directed inside commercial drains to target the concern areas. This is considered one of the most effective drain cleaning techniques because it is instant, efficient and causes no damage to the existing infrastructure.
If you are keen to take on our expert advice on this, it is a good idea to schedule regular high-pressure drain cleaning every couple of months or so for your commercial drains. This particular service is fundamental to the smooth running of a drain, and this is especially important for commercial and business environments. You can rest assured that minor blockages will clear quickly but you should also rely on high-pressure drain cleaning as a preventative measure. Riverland Tank and Drain offers a wide variety of professional assistance for drain cleaning and maintenance. You can rely on us to provide solutions that protect the longevity of your plumbing systems in Renmark, Berri, Barmera and many more local areas.