If your sewer drain is clogged, wastewater has nowhere to go except backing up into your home. So, it’s easy to see why this is often considered a plumbing emergency.
Continuing to use water in the home, as we all need to do daily, will simply make things worse.
So, what should you do about it?
Ultimately, you may need professional drain cleaning from a licensed plumber but it helps to understand the main signs of a clogged sewer drain and a few home fixes that might get your wastewater flowing again.
How do I know if my sewer drain is clogged?
If a sink backs up, you may not initially suspect the sewer drain as the cause of the problem. It’s more likely to be a “localized” problem with the sink piping itself.
However, if several plumbing fixtures, such as the toilets, showers, sinks, bathtubs, and washing machine, all have problems at the same time, and you can smell sewage around these areas, you may have a sewer drain clog.
Here are the typical signs of a clogged sewer drain:
- Toilets: Toilets have a direct path to the main drain and use the biggest pipes. Most sewer drain problems start here. If your toilet doesn’t flush properly or gurgles when other fixtures are using water, you need to go deeper to find the cause of the problem.
- Sinks: Trapped air in the plumbing system can make the water level in toilets rise or cause gurgling noises in the sinks, especially the sink closest to the toilet.
- Bathtub/shower: If the water drains more slowly than usual or, worse, changes colour or wastewater leaks into the tub, you may have a clog in the main sewer drain.
- Washing machine: If your toilet, tub, or shower backs up when water drains from the washing machine, the sewer drain may be blocked.
Main causes of a clogged sewer line
What’s causing those foul smells, gurgling sounds from the toilet, and water backing up into sinks?
It could be any of several culprits…
Blocked drains from household misuse
A clogged drain is one of the most common causes of sewer drain issues, and one that can usually be prevented.
If items that should be sent to the trash can, like tea bags, coffee grinds, or eggshells, get thrown down the drain, they can cause havoc in your plumbing system.
Similarly, flushing items down the toilet bowl that should not be flushed (like baby wipes, Q-Tips, or feminine hygiene products) can cause serious toilet drain blockages.
Cooking oil, fat, and grease are other prime culprits for drain blockages in kitchen sinks, while hair often blocks shower or bathtub drains.
Limescale buildup
In hard water areas like Calgary, where the water is dense with minerals, calcium deposits naturally build up in the sewer line over the years as wastewater passes through.
This combines with tuberculation (in old cast iron pipes) and FOG (fats, oils, and grease) to gradually reduce the size of the pipe’s opening, increasing the likelihood of clogs.
Tree roots
Sewer line blockages are also caused by overgrown tree roots, which may extend to the piping, where they may find small hairline cracks and create larger holes. This can lead to sewer backup.
Sometimes, even, the entire area of ground surrounding a sewer line can move and cause it to drop. Construction, digging, or natural shifts in the soil might be to blame. Regardless of the culprit, the sewer pipe might need replacing.
Heavy rainfall
Calgary homeowners are fairly used to precipitation but heavy rain can cause extra strain on the municipal sewer system.
The system may exceed its maximum ability to hold water and cause extra water to travel to the sewer lines connected to your house. This can lead to backflow of water to all connected sinks in the neighbourhood.
Be aware of this potential problem, as city sewage backups may create enough pressure to force raw sewage into drains and flood bathrooms.
Full septic tank
With homes in rural areas, wastewater and sewage usually flow to a septic tank and drainage field in the yard rather than a municipally connected system.
In these systems, water gradually seeps down into the soil and raw sewage safely decomposes underground.
If the main drain becomes clogged or the underground drainage field is full or saturated, waste can start backing up. Solutions usually require help from professional plumbers.
What should I do if my main sewer drain is clogged?
If your sewer drain is blocked, the priority should be not to make the problem worse.
Stop using all water-consuming appliances (dishwasher, laundry) and fixtures immediately. Turn off the main valve as a “fail-safe” to ensure no one accidentally flushes a toilet.
Sewage can be hazardous, so if you’re in any doubt, call a professional plumber. If you know what you’re doing, you might try these quick home remedies to fix the problem:
Try a plunger
Plungers can help release relatively minor toilet blockages or any other minor drain clogs in home fixtures. To use a plunger in a sink:
- Remove the drain stopper.
- Fill the sink/tub with 1-2 inches of hot water.
- Block the overflow hole with a wet rag.
- Create suction by sealing the plunger around the drain.
- Use a rapid back-and-forth motion to see if water starts flowing down the drain again.
If the plunger doesn’t work, it’s time for a professional plumber. Call Pete the Plumber at (403) 257-1766 for a home visit by professionals.
Our plumbers have experience in working with raw sewage and specialist equipment to safely clear sewer drain blockages, including hydrojetters and motorized drain snakes to remove large clogs in the main sewer drains.
How can you protect sewer drains in a multi-storey building?
In multi-storey buildings, professional sewer drain cleaning is an essential maintenance step to prevent problems for residents.
Multi-storey buildings pose extra challenges for sewer drain management, with long and complex drain line structures making it difficult to identify the source of problems, limited access points, and a diverse selection of materials potentially entering the drain system.
Regular sewer drain cleaning in such buildings can improve drainage, prevent the risk of backup, extend drain lifespan, and lower repair costs.
Emergency sewer drain services in Calgary
If you live in Calgary, our licensed professional plumbers can unclog your sewer drain and get the wastewater flowing freely again. Call Pete the Plumber at (403) 257-1766 to arrange a visit.