One of the most important things to be able to identify in your home is whether your sewer line is blocked. While localised drain clogs and sewer blockages may have similar symptoms, it’s important to understand the distinction. A clogged drain refers to a blockage in a specific plumbing fixture, such as a shower drain or toilet sink. However, a clogged sewer refers to the main sewer line that all of your fixture drains connect to and lead into your city’s sewer system. Simply put: a clogged sewer isn’t something you can fix yourself, and will definitely need professional plumbing intervention to fix.
Before you panic, read on to learn more about the signs of a clogged sewer to see if you have one.
Multiple Clogged Drains
Usually, a plumbing issue will be localised to just a specific drain fixture that can be remedied by itself. However, if you’ve found that all of your drains are experiencing issues seemingly independent of each other, it’s likely an issue farther down the line that has to do with your sewage.
Unpleasant Sewage Smell
The most tell-tale sign of a blocked sewer is the one that’s the most difficult to ignore: a lingering sewage smell. These can come from any drain in your house, be it your shower drain, bathroom sink drain, or kitchen drain. This could be a sign of a break in the sewer line or persisting waste water in the pipe caused by a blockage.
Now, if the smell is coming from the kitchen sink, this could be the sign of a localised accumulation of food waste rather than an issue in your sewer. In order to troubleshoot it, use drain cleaning remedies to try and clear the clog. If the issue persists, you might have a sewer issue, or at the very least a very stubborn blockage that will require assistance from an experienced plumber.
Blocked or Broken Gully Trap
Something you might not think of is your gully trap. A gully trap is a type of plumbing fixture that lives outside your home whose sole purpose is to stop foul sewage odours from entering your home. These have a trap of water that stops these odours from entering your home. If this becomes clogged, it can result in overflowing water outside your home and is a sign of a blockage that needs to be addressed.
Toilet Won’t Unclog and Flushing Issues
If your toilet is having trouble, this can be a sign of a clogged sewer drain. This can manifest in your toilet developing problematic behaviours whenever it is flushed. This includes strange gurgling noises or water backing up into the shower drain or bathtub. This can be a sign of an issue in your sewer which you will need a professional plumber to take a look at.
Changes in Your Yard
Because conventional sewer lines run underneath your property in the direction of the road, there’s a possibility of being able to see evidence of sewer blockages in your very own front or back yard, depending on how your property is built. Evidence can include dirty water pooling in the yard, as wastewater/raw sewage leaks from your sewer. This also can manifest as patches of very green grass in your yard, indicating your plants are happily munching away at excess water and nutrients from what you’re flushing down the loo. In the event of any sign of human waste in your yard, make sure not to clear it without protective equipment, and call a licensed plumber as soon as you can to fix the pipe.
Don’t wait for it to get worse!
While it’s stressful deciding the best course of action when approaching plumbing issues, it’s an even bigger problem suffering through the mental drain of letting an issue get worse and worse with no leads on how to fix it.
Skip the stress, and get yourself sorted by hiring OA Plumbing. With over 30 years of experience, we’re especially trained in diagnosing all kinds of problems across a range of plumbing systems. With top-of-the-line tools such as drain cameras, hydro jets, and drain augers, we can identify and eliminate whatever problems are plaguing your plumbing system.Give us a call and our friendly team of plumbing specialists will be more than happy to listen to your problem and provide a quote on whatever it is you need help with.
