subject: Blocked Drains - What The Professionals Do [print this page] Blocked drains are an all too familiar problem for most people. Whether domestic or commercial, a blocked drains is one of the biggest headaches life has to offer. Everyone has their own homespun ways of clearing blocked drains, usually involving bleach, but there comes a point when it"s time to call in the professionals.
For commercial and public organisations, this point is a lot sooner than for homeowners. In fact, many commercial organisations hire drainage services companies to pre-emptively clean the drains in order to prevent blocked drains from occurring in the first place. This is achieved by using high pressure jetting (the more hi-tech method of drain clearance) to clear the drain of any and all debris before it becomes a problem.
High pressure jetting is exactly what it sounds like. Using an extremely high pressure hose, the drain clearance specialists can clear everything from the drain whether it is blocked yet or not. The hose is so powerful that it is also used for other cleaning applications such as clearing gum from pavements and car parks. Anyone who has ever tried to clear trodden down gum by hand will understand just how powerful this hose is.
However, sometimes there just isn"t enough space to carry out high pressure water jetting. In cases like these the more primitive technique of manual rodding is used. Again, the name is fairly self explanatory, and yes, it does involve prodding at the blockage with a metal rod. However, before you get any ideas about doing it yourself, drainage services companies say this is one of the most common ways for people to damage their own drains. Thinking they can just dislodge the blockage themselves with whatever is to hand, DIY drain unblockers often make matters worse by damaging the pipes as well, meaning that when they do call the drains clearance guys, they have a lot more work to do, which costs a lot more money.
So, the best advice to anyone who"s got to the point where bleach isn"t doing the trick anymore, is that to clear a blocked drain with the minimum of fuss and the minimum of expense in the long term: call a professional drain clearance company. Otherwise, you might end up causing yourself more problems than just a blocked drain.
