The investigation of a series of minor floods at our new home revealed what at first glance were stones in the drainage system from the kitchen and utility room. I later revised my opinion to mortar and then possible grout. They look like small lumps of grey mortar but is quite friable.
On discussing this with my plumber he suggested that they are fatbergs and possibly related to the way the previous occupier used the drainage system, the way the system is set up internally and that washing powder may have exacerbated the problem.
I am struggling to find a solution online to how to dissolve these lumps without dismantlng the whole system. Fat will dissolve in alkali so I have put some diluted caustic down various orifices and run a mild solution through the washing machine. But is that enough? Would any other chemicals (maybe a mild acid like cheap cola) work?
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My son had blocked drain from house to street.
In Scotland anything outside of the house belongs to the water company.
They went into the manhole & used a power washer - 10 minutes finished.
My grandpa owned a plumbers business with some 10-20 plumbers - they used rods -
as he said "It might be $h1te to you but it is bread & butter to me"
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Had something similar - the underground pipe (4"?) from the washing machine to the main sewer out of the property became blocked - mixture of washing powder deposits and leaves.
Man from South West Water came round - used a plunger to dislodge the blockage (plug about 18" long) into the manhole, then broke it up with jet washer. More fresh water just washed the bits away into the main street sewer.
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This is what you need! I have one, only £3.99 an works well
tinyurl.com/tqys7d6
links to ebay
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>> This is what you need! I have one, only £3.99 an works well
>>
>> tinyurl.com/tqys7d6
>>
>> links to ebay
And 25 feet of pressure washer hose, your normal one wont reach!
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"Pfttttt what you have is mere hailstones, THIS is a fatburg"
Pfttttt. I have a fatburg that moves under its own power. My wife calls it mama.
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I think the previous occupants of our place must habitually have swilled fatty stuff down the sink because not long after we moved in the drain blocked. I bought three sets of rods (it was a 25 metre run to the next chamber by the front gate) and unbunged it myself. I couldn't move it with the 4" rubber disc but I got the worm in and chipped away. Of course by then there was a lot of "material" behind the obstruction so it wasn't too pleasant, but the principal obstruction was the grey stuff you describe.
There didn't seem to be much fall on it so I checked it every few months to see if it was running slowly and if necessary put the rods through. It turned out that there was a partial obstruction just beyond the manhole, caused by tree roots, that was slowing down the flow. I only found out because I collared some Lanes Drains/Thames Water chaps doing some work nearby and they jetted it for me there and then. Their jets cut through tree roots and they assured me it would be OK for 10 years.
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We have exactly the same issue. Despite not using a lot of fats and scrupulously treating greasy pans with best quality detergent before rinsing, we get a fatberg ever year or so. It's well north of the washing machine outlet so the source is either the kitchen sink or the dishwasher. On the latter we've tried powders and liquids with no apparent difference to the berg.
Part of the problem may be a poor fall on the drain
I have taken bits of berg and soaked them for days in acids/caustic soda/alkalis/domestic drain cleaner and it makes no inroads whatever. In fact some make the blockage worse, for example fat and caustic soda react to form a sort of hard soap. I also use natural enzyme cleaning sticks in the u-bends but can't detect a difference.
All that shifts them is the pressure hose with a metal head thingy as recommended above. Last time even that was being defeated somewhere up the drain and I invested in a set of drain rods from Screwfix. With the metal screw end that broke it up and several long fatberg baguettes flushed through.
Quite satisfying to see it coming through but it's amazing how much builds up in a few months.
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Thanks for that Martin.
I may have to go down that route.
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Try Mister Muscle drain cleaner. Needs to rest a while in the sink or basin before flushing away.
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Or rather, in the U-bend.
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Ambo, Mr Muscle was one of the things I tried soaking one of my fatberg samples in. No effect over three days. It came out exactly as it went in.
Of course the composition of Netsur's may be different but I reckon nothing available for amateurs will shift the swines. Maybe something available to the trade will work but in my experience the trade prefer physical means whenever possible.
When mine break down the pieces come as several virtually tubular pieces, each several inches long. From a twenty-five foot drain I get a good half bucket load of lumps plus the bits I cant catch that slip past and out to the sewer. Its not just a minor plug of fat/scum that a domestic drain cleaner might shift. Even with a pressure hose and rods its a couple of hours work.
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If that’s your drains just think what your arteries are like :-)
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CGN good point, now where can I put my rods ;-)
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Fatberg in domestic environment - Falkirk Bairn
