Drain delamination occurs when the layers of pitch fibre pipes separate, causing the drain to warp, blister, and lose its structural integrity. This is primarily due to prolonged exposure to hot water, fats, oils, and grease (FOG), which weaken the coal-tar pitch bonding the pipe layers together. Over time, this leads to restricted wastewater flow, blockages, and even collapsed drains.
If your property has pitch fibre drains, understanding the risks of delamination can help you prevent major drainage issues. Below, we explain why this happens, the warning signs to watch for, and how our Bristol and Bath drainage experts repair delaminated pipes.
Many houses, flats, schools, hospitals and other buildings built between the 1940s and 70s have drains made of pitch fibre. Unfortunately, this inexpensive, lightweight material – a mixture of coal-tar pitch and fibrous wood cellulose – is prone to delamination, as we’ll explain. If pitch fibre drains carry wastewater away from your property, it’s vital to familiarise yourself with this destructive process and its causes to help protect your drainage system.
As a trusted Bristol and Bath drainage company, Mega-Rod has the expertise required to successfully diagnose and treat drain delamination. If you’re worried about your pitch fibre drains, or you want us to confirm what your drains are made of by conducting a CCTV drain camera survey, simply get in touch.
When we talk about pitch fibre drain delamination, we mean that a pipe’s interior has separated into its constituent layers. In other words, the layers of coal-tar pitch and cellulose that were originally bonded together have gradually pulled away from each other.
A drain undergoing delamination becomes deformed; it loses its cylindrical shape as the walls blister, warp and sag. The drain’s diameter decreases dramatically, which severely restricts the flow of wastewater.
What’s more, pitch fibre drains’ push-fit joints (i.e. connections that don’t need gluing or soldering) loosen during delamination, leading to leaks. When wastewater seeps out of drains, it can attract invasive roots and destabilise the pipework (as soggy soil tends to shift and sink).
The longer delamination continues the weaker the pipework will become. Severe delamination can even lead to collapsed drains.
If you notice any of the following drainage warning signs at your property, your pitch fibre drains could well be congested or blocked due to delamination, and you’ll need assistance from a reputable drainage company such as Mega-Rod:
The major cause of pitch fibre drain delamination is prolonged exposure to what’s known in the drainage industry as FOG: used cooking fat, oil and grease. These runny rogue substances are often poured down sinks in the mistaken belief they won’t harm drainage systems when they should actually be placed in sealable containers and thrown away with other kitchen waste. And the popularity of modern convenience foods means drains are likely to be exposed to much more FOG today than was the case years ago.
When fat, oil or grease enters your drains, it’s hot enough to soften the coal-tar pitch in the walls. This weakens the bonds between the layers of pitch fibre, leading to delamination. To make matters worse, FOG congeals as it cools and therefore forms obstructions. A drain that’s already narrowed significantly due to being delaminated could get completely blocked by a build-up of solidified oil, for instance.
Even if you don’t allow traces of roast dinners or microwave meals to go down the plughole, you’re bound to run hot water regularly, and doing so can also soften the coal-tar pitch.
Age-related deterioration is also linked to drain delamination. Any pitch fibre drains still in use today have exceeded their intended 40-year lifespan, so their risk of structural instability is greater and they’re more likely to need drain repairs.
Delamination affects a wide range of multi-layered materials/objects. In addition to pitch fibre, fibreglass, plywood, slate and painted surfaces frequently delaminate. For example, if you’ve seen layers of paint peeling off iron railings, you’ve seen delamination in action.
But in terms of drainage, only drains made of pitch fibre delaminate. Other common drain materials, such as clay and plastic, don’t behave in the same troubling way. ‘This sort of pipe has posed specific problems over and above other designs,’ says property industry resource Sava in its pitch fibre drains guide.
When checking pitch fibre drains for delamination, we perform a CCTV drain inspection. If this reveals layers of pitch fibre peeling off drain walls and associated congestion/blockages, the pipework will need to be cleared, reshaped, cleaned and reinforced.
This kind of drain repair involves unblocking drains then dragging a bullet-shaped re-rounding tool (which is sometimes called a ‘pig’, because it’s heavy and squat) through them to restore their cylindrical shape. The pipework is then cleaned with metal brushes to remove any debris left by the re-rounding tool. Lastly, drain walls are made strong and watertight with a resin-soaked drain liner.
If you suspect your pitch fibre drains are delaminating, call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980 for expert Bristol and Bath drain repairs.
Have you ever wondered what drain relining is and how it works? You’re not alone. Our Bath drains services team often answers customers’ questions about the process. Despite its name, drain relining doesn’t involve relaying or realigning underground pipework, it actually refers to an entirely different procedure.
In a nutshell, drain relining is a modern solution that gives damaged pipes a durable, watertight lining without the need for excavation, therefore saving you time and money.
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Discover how drain relining repairs damaged pipes with a strong, watertight lining. Save time, money, and hassle with this no-dig drainage solution.
Drain relining uses the revolutionary Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) technique invented in the 1970s by engineer Eric Wood, who needed an effective way to stop a water pipe leaking. The technique caught the drainage industry’s attention because CIPP makes it possible to repair cracked, leaky drains from the inside, which is considerably less disruptive than digging them up and replacing them. Indeed, it’s now regarded as ‘the most popular and cost-effective method to rehabilitate underground pipes’, as Trenchless Technology magazine emphasises.
Drain relining involves inserting a pliable, resin-soaked felt liner into a damaged drain and inflating it so it assumes the pipe’s shape; bends or changes in pipe diameter pose no problems. When the resin ‘cures’ – or hardens – the liner forms a new, robust, undamaged drain inside the old one and wastewater can once again flow safely from the property to the sewers.
Notorious drain blockers (which include invasive roots, frozen wastewater, cooking fat, oil and grease, quilted toilet paper and wet wipes) can exert pressure on your pipework. This leads to structural weaknesses such as cracks, splits and loose connections, as well as poor drainage.
After our drainage experts have removed an obstruction using our drain unblocking or root cutting equipment, we can assess the condition of your pipework using a CCTV drain survey. If we find the obstruction has created structural issues, we can resolve them by relining the drains.
Drain relining can also be used to combat general wear and tear or damage caused by soil movement.
As long as there aren’t large gaps in your drain walls and you haven’t experienced a full drain collapse, it should be possible to reline them. If just a small section of pipe is damaged, we can perform a patch repair, which means using a piece of resin-soaked fibreglass to partially reline the drain.
1. Resin (typically epoxy resin, a liquid plastic) is mixed with a hardening agent and poured into an absorbent, tube-shaped felt drain liner. Rollers are then used to flatten the liner, ensuring the resin coats the inside of it fully and evenly.
2. The next step involves guiding the flattened liner through the drain and inflating it, which is often done with a machine called an inversion drum. One end of the liner is fed into the drum; when it emerges, it’s folded back on itself slightly and secured to the drum’s nozzle in order to facilitate the inversion process. The drum blows compressed air through the liner, which inverts it (i.e. turns it inside out) while pushing it through the drain and forcing it to expand so it covers every inch of the drain walls.
3. Turning the liner inside out has exposed the drain walls to the sticky resin. Drain and resin form a permanent bond as the latter hardens. (This hardening will happen by itself but can be sped up with hot water.) Finally, a CCTV drain inspection confirms the new drain-within-a-drain is structurally sound.
As a trusted drainage company, we skilfully unblock drains and also repair/reline them in Bath, Bristol and the surrounding area.
Don’t let drain damage derail your drainage system – call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980 for expert help.
When winter arrives in Bath, Bristol and the surrounding area, it brings crisp, fresh air, picturesque snowy landscapes – and freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, frozen drains are very common between December and February, the coldest months in the UK. In fact, a drain freezing is one of the main reasons why many residential and commercial property owners need our Bristol and Bath drains 24/7 emergency callout service during wintry weather.
It’s all too easy for wastewater to turn into a solid block of ice in your drains at this time of year, as the pipework is buried underground outdoors and therefore at the mercy of temperatures of 0°C and below. A frozen drain is undoubtedly one of the most serious, potentially destructive drainage problems you can encounter at your home or business, not least because the pipe may get completely blocked. Indeed, frozen drain issues can only be resolved with specialist help from a trusted drainage company such as Mega-Rod.
As winter drain care experts, we know that frozen drains threaten drainage systems’ structural integrity. You can’t just wait for the pipework to thaw out when the weather improves; too much damage may have been done by then, as we’ll explain. You need to get in touch with an experienced drainage team like us straight away.
Many people don’t realise that water doesn’t behave like the majority of other liquids in freezing conditions. In other words, it doesn’t shrink – it actually gets bigger. As water molecules freeze, they move further apart from one another. As a result, water ‘expands by approximately 9%’ when it solidifies, as the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam explains.
Because frozen wastewater takes up more space than liquid wastewater and stubbornly refuses to move through pipework, it tends to create severe congestion and blockages in drains. In addition, it can exert considerable pressure on drain walls, which can lead to cracks, warping, loose joints and even collapsed drains (not to mention leaks and flooding when liquid wastewater travels through the system again).
When the temperature outside plummets, watch out for the following drainage issues. They may well indicate that your drains have frozen and become blocked or reached the point of collapse.
Be particularly vigilant if you have ageing drains (for example, Victorian vitrified clay pipework) or drains buried in shallow trenches, as they’re particularly vulnerable in the winter.
Fortunately, there are practical steps you can take to help prevent frozen drains.
During the winter months, keep an eye on the weather forecasts for Bath, Bristol and neighbouring places. If the temperature outside is predicted to drop to around freezing point,run your hot water taps regularly.
Insulate above-ground water pipes with foam pipe sleeves. Add thermal ‘jackets’ to water tanks and outside taps. If you miss any above-ground pipes, etc. and they start to look frosty, contact a plumber as soon as you can in case the pipework bursts.
British Gas suggests getting your boiler serviced before winter really sets in to ensure heat is being distributed efficiently. It’s also sensible to keep the temperature in your property above 12°C throughout the winter even when you’re away. Keep the cupboard doors beneath your kitchen sink open to let warm air reach the pipework. (‘Remove any household chemicals or potentially harmful cleaners […] if you have small children or pets,’ emphasises Better Homes & Gardens.) Also encourage warm air to enter your loft, if a water tank is housed up there, by leaving the hatch open.
One of the most effective steps you can take when you want to avoid the misery of frozen drains is to book a drain cleaning appointment. After all, if your drains are even slightly congested at the moment (due to coffee grounds or flushed wet wipes, say), it won’t take much frozen wastewater to completely block them. Our drain cleaning specialists use drain jetting and other powerful techniques to leave pipework clean and clear and help your drainage system defend itself against winter weather.
If you’re worried that your drains may be frozen right now, please remember that we offer 24/7 emergency callouts.
We can unblock drains by blasting, breaking apart and washing away blocks of ice with our drain jetters. We also have the expertise to repair or replace drains that have been damaged by frozen wastewater.
Resolve frozen drain issues this winter – contact Mega-Rod in Bath today on 01225 422980.
‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year,’ declares the classic Christmas song, but your drainage system may not be inclined to agree. When you’re entertaining guests, serving lavish meals and throwing parties, your drains are working harder than ever. Plus, they’re more likely to be exposed to cooking fat and other notorious drain blockers during the indulgent festive season than at any other time of the year.
Careful planning is required to ensure Christmas and New Year celebrations go smoothly, and as a leading Bath drainage company we know how important it is for homeowners to factor their drains into their seasonal plans. If you prepare your drainage system for the holidays now, as well as taking steps to protect it when the celebrations are in full swing, you can significantly reduce your risk of experiencing drain disasters such as collapsed drains.
Nothing puts a dampener on festive cheer quite like the stress, mess and inconvenience of drainage problems. So read on for Mega-Rod’s seasonal drain care tips, which will help you to keep your home merry and bright.
At Christmastime, many people open up their homes to family and friends. It’s wonderful to share this season with people you love, but there’s no getting away from the fact that filling your home with guests increases the chances of rogue items being flushed down toilets and forming blockages that need to be removed by a specialist drain unblocking team.
With that in mind, you’ll want to ensure there are lidded bins in the guest bedrooms, bathroom and downstairs toilet. Place signs near the bins to make guests aware that wet wipes, sanitary products, half-eaten mince pies, cracker toys and other items that aren’t designed to be flushed away should be thrown away instead.
Roast turkey is the centrepiece of many people’s Christmas dinner menus. A staggering 10 million turkeys are cooked in the UK during the holidays. Other festive favourites include goose and pork. They’re all delicious but also produce lots of fat, which can play havoc with drains.
Never pour fat, oil and grease (also known as FOG in the drainage industry) down your kitchen sink. As they harden, they can create mini fatbergs capable of blocking drains, trapping rogue items, causing nasty backups, exerting enough pressure on pipe walls to make drains collapse, and ultimately enlarging vast sewer fatbergs.
To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, 27% of UK adults admit to pouring fat down plugholes, while 250 tons of fatty waste enters the water system per million cooked turkeys. One water company has even issued a ‘festive FOG warning’, noting that a single turkey ‘can produce enough fat to cause a blockage in smaller pipes’.
Instead of pouring away fat, oil or grease, let it cool slightly then place in a sealable plastic container, which you can bin once cold. Also throw away other festive food waste that can block drains, including leftover gravy and cranberry sauce, bones, and vegetable peelings.
If there’s any chance food waste or other nasties are lurking in your drains right now, you need our drain cleaning service. We’ll use a drain jetter or other powerful equipment to clean and clear your pipework before Christmas.
After hosting an unforgettable New Year’s Eve party, you’ll have more cleaning to do than usual and will want anyone whose head isn’t too sore to help you with it! But don’t go overboard – mixing cleaning products is dangerous and won’t make them work better. For example, combining bleach and toilet cleaner can produce toxic gas and damage pipework.
Also avoid harsh chemical drain cleaners, as they can cause chemical burns and respiratory issues, as well as warp drains. If your drains are struggling (perhaps they’ve been overwhelmed by numerous guests using large amounts of toilet paper), our drain jetting service can quickly and safely resolve the problem with no need for nasty chemicals.
Why not make a New Year’s resolution never to use harsh chemical drain cleaners again? Your drainage system will certainly thank you.
Eat, drink and be merry this Christmas and New Year – but spare a thought for your drains!
We provide a comprehensive range of drainage services in Bath, Bristol and the surrounding area, including drain unblocking, drain cleaning, drain jetting and more, to keep your wastewater flowing throughout the festive season and beyond.
Don’t let drain problems spoil your festive plans – call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
Since wet wipes were invented in the late 1950s, these convenient, single-use cloths have become incredibly popular. Some of the most common types of wet wipe are toilet paper alternatives that offer more thorough cleansing. So it’s perhaps not surprising that an enormous number of used wipes end up being flushed away – up to 2.9 billion of them every year in the UK, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
But as the Mega-Rod Bath drain unblocking team will tell you, wet wipes frequently play havoc with drainage systems. So is it ever safe to flush them down your toilet, and what might happen to your drains if you do?
Most toilet paper is made of wood pulp, which is also found in some wet wipes, but that’s where the similarities between these products end. Wet wipes are non-woven fabric sheets, and about 90% of them contain plastic. This means they’re more durable than toilet paper but unfortunately can be bad news for drains.
Whereas toilet paper disintegrates rapidly in fast-flowing wastewater, most wet wipes don’t break down easily at all because they’re so fibrous, absorbent and strong. That’s why we’d caution everyone against flushing wipes down the toilet. Indeed, you’ll probably be shocked by how much harm they can do to your drainage system.
Because wet wipes are likely to still be intact when they reach your drains, they can easily clog the pipework. Domestic drains are often only four inches wide, so it doesn’t take many wipes to form a blockage that stops wastewater flowing away from your property and leads to unpleasant backups. In fact, flushed wet wipes are one of the major causes of blocked drains. When providing our trusted drain unblocking service in Bath and elsewhere, we often find wipes are to blame for our customers’ drainage issues.
What’s more, wet wipes can absorb and trap any cooking fat, oil or grease that gets poured down the kitchen sink instead of being thrown away then congeals. This leads to more complex, smellier drain obstructions – mini fatbergs that set like concrete and can exert considerable pressure on pipe walls, putting drains at risk of collapse. Fortunately, drain jetting and other techniques enable us to clear even severe blockages – but that still doesn’t mean flushing wet wipes is safe.
If your drains are connected to a septic tank, wet wipes that enter the tank may create significant congestion and prevent the system working properly. Wastewater could then be forced out of the tank and into your drainage field before it’s been processed. If your tank overflows, you’ll need a septic tank emptying service as soon as possible instead of being able to stick to your normal yearly appointment.
Flushed wet wipes threaten drains and septic tanks, but the problems don’t stop there. Wipes that flow from drains to sewers can form/enlarge giant sewer fatbergs, some of which weigh over 100 tonnes.
Water UK, the water industry’s trade body, analysed 54 sewer blockages and found wet wipes accounted for around 93% of the material they contained. Wessex Water, which serves many areas we work in, urges customers not to flush away wipes due to the ‘huge amount of damage’ they cause.
And if sewers overflow, wipes can find their way into watercourses. They pollute the environment, are magnets for contaminants and kill wildlife that ingests the plastic they contain. DEFRA is so concerned that it’s announced plans for a UK-wide ban on wet wipes containing plastic.
Some wet wipes are labelled ‘flushable’. You might therefore assume they must be safe to flush away. However, ‘flushable’ just tends to mean they’ll leave your toilet bowl after one flush and degrade somewhat faster than other wipes. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe for drains, septic tanks, sewers or the environment.
Water UK recently stopped its Fine to Flush certification scheme, which identified the relatively small number of wet wipes that don’t pose a threat, because it realised there’s too much confusion among consumers and too many wipes without the certification are being flushed away and causing problems.
It now emphasises that the safe, responsible way to dispose of wet wipes is to put them in the bin instead.
If flushed wet wipes are interfering with your property’s drainage system, you can rely on our Bath drains experts to get your wastewater flowing again.
For a fast, reliable drain unblocking service, call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
Trees bring beauty and shade to your property, but their roots can cause serious problems underground. One common issue is how trees damage drains, often leading to blockages, leaks, or even collapsed pipes. Understanding the three main ways tree roots impact drainage systems can help you take proactive steps to protect your pipes and avoid costly repairs. Let’s explore the key issues and how to address them effectively.
Towns and cities aren’t generally thought of as places in which nature thrives. However, the tree-mapping project Treezilla suggests there could be as many as 1.5 billion urban trees around the UK. This means it’s highly likely that the drainage system serving your property is close to some of these natural wonders. In this article, we’ll draw on our extensive experience as Bristol and Bath drains specialists to help you decide whether or not your pipework is at risk of tree-related damage.
Trees are an important part of urban landscapes, providing what’s known as green cover in areas that might otherwise look drab and grey. As the Woodland Trust emphasises, urban trees ‘have a huge impact on local wildlife, mental and physical health, and pollution levels, while making the places we live in more beautiful’. But they don’t always have harmonious relationships with underground pipes. In fact, the Mega-Rod team is often called out by property owners in Bath, Bristol and beyond after drains have been compromised by leaves and roots.
There are three main ways trees damage drains. We’ll examine each of them in turn and also explain how we diagnose and resolve drainage issues linked to trees. We’re ready to help if you suspect a tree may be to blame for poor drainage or other drain problems, so please feel free to contact us.
Autumn leaves can easily slip through exposed drain gratings and get stuck in drains – a common cause of how trees damage drains. Once immersed in wastewater, they become soggy clumps and can clog up the pipework, leaving you with slow drainage and nasty odours. They can even block drains completely, especially if they stick to other rogue matter such as fibrous, absorbent wet wipes. Blockages prevent wastewater from flowing, resulting in frequent backups. They also exert pressure on pipe walls, leading to cracks, leaks and collapsed drains.
Thankfully, you can rely on our Bristol and Bath drain unblocking service to get your wastewater flowing again. We locate and identify obstructions with the aid of CCTV drain inspections and then use effective techniques such as drain jetting to eliminate them.
To prevent leaves from entering your drainage system in the first place, cover exposed gratings with drain guards.
Mature trees often need more than 50,000 litres of water annually. If thirsty roots dry out the soil around your drain, it may well shrink and sink – a destructive process known as subsidence. Drains can drop along with the soil, resulting in cracks, loose connections and leaks. The latter problem only encourages root growth, while soil can become even more unstable when it suddenly goes from dry to soggy.
As ground engineering firm Geobear points out, some species of tree are more likely to dry out soil than others, as they absorb particularly large amounts of water. They include conifers, poplars, planes, sycamores and willows. Moreover, silver maples and weeping willows have shallow root systems, so their roots are especially likely to grow in areas of the soil where drains have been laid.
If you’re concerned that tree root subsidence may be damaging your drains, we can conduct a CCTV drain inspection to check for issues then carry out any necessary repair work (relining or replacing pipework, for example). In addition, you may wish to consult a tree surgeon about the possibility of moving trees further away from your drainage system.
Tree roots are opportunistic – if they happen to detect wastewater coming from leaky drains, they’ll grow towards it. Then they’ll exploit and worsen the structural weaknesses causing the leak in order to penetrate the drainage system.
Invasive roots form dense obstructions inside drains, stopping wastewater from flowing. When a drain inspection reveals roots have taken hold, we shred the offending material with specialist root cutting equipment and wash it away. We also repair the drain damage to ensure the drainage system is fully sealed. ‘If the drains are watertight, then tree roots will not generally trouble them,’ emphasises the Royal Horticultural Society.
According to the Architects’ Journal, there should be ‘at least a distance equivalent to the tree’s height’ between a tree and a building. If any trees are closer to your property than that, your drains may be at risk and you should therefore contact a reliable drainage company such as Mega-Rod. You’ll also want expert help if your drainage system isn’t working properly and the root cause of the problem (if you’ll pardon the pun!) may be a tree.
Stop trees troubling your drains – call the Mega-Rod Bath team today on 01225 422980.
Sonar drain tracing is a precise, non-invasive method used to detect blockages and pipe routes underground.
It’s well known that sonar equipment, which detects and interprets sound waves, is widely used on submarines, fishing boats and other vessels to find and identify objects underwater that would either be difficult or impossible to see with a camera. But did you know that this type of highly sensitive acoustic technology is also widely used in the UK drainage industry and has the potential to benefit your home and business?
Drainage experts such as the Mega-Rod team often carry out sonar drain tracing alongside CCTV drain inspections because it complements camera-led surveys. In fact, a sonar system can be worth its weight in gold when you want more information about what’s happening underground than a camera alone can provide. Sonar drain tracing enables us to locate (or ‘trace’) drains and drain issues, as well as measure the pipework, with pinpoint accuracy. Plus, this is all achieved without excavation work.
If you need a clear, accurate plan of your drainage system or want to say goodbye to drain problems such as horrible smells and backups, Mega-Rod has the skills, expertise and equipment to help you. Why not get in touch with us now to book your Bristol or Bath drain tracing appointment?
The term sonar stands for sound navigation and ranging. It was coined during World War II, when sonar systems were first used extensively by the military and became increasingly sophisticated.
There are two main forms of sonar technology: passive and active. Passive sonar systems pick up and identify sound waves from vessels. They play a major role in anti-submarine warfare, for instance. By contrast, active sonar systems such as drain tracing devices emit and receive their own sound wave signals. By analysing how these signals behave, they provide crucial information about objects in marine or subterranean environments.
One of the most important pieces of sonar drain tracing equipment is the compact, capsule-shaped signal transmitter called a drain sonde. (Indeed, drain tracing is also known as sonding or a sonde and trace survey.) The sonde is mounted on wheels at the end of a long, flexible cable. It may also be attached to or integrated with a CCTV drain survey camera so that a drain inspection can be performed at the same time as drain tracing.
A drain engineer feeds the sonde into the drainage system and controls it remotely from above ground, sending it through the pipework. Sondes can typically function at depths of up to 3-5m, so they can be used to successfully trace a wide range of domestic and commercial drains.
The signals the sonde produces when it’s inside a drain are detected by a hand-held receiver. By following the signals, the drain engineer can trace the route taken by the underground pipe. But drain tracing doesn’t stop there – this type of survey provides a great deal of helpful information. The receiver measures signal strength and the time taken for signals to travel from the drain to the surface, and this data enables the drain engineer to determine the drain’s precise depth, size and angle. These details can be used to create a detailed drainage system plan and also make any drain repairs easier.
Sonar drain tracing – or a combination of this type of acoustic survey and a CCTV drain camera inspection – is ideal when you want to:
Our sonar drain tracing service can give you invaluable, up-to-date information about your drainage system and help you look after it.
All of our drain tracing work is carried out by our friendly, experienced drainage specialists, who cover Bath, Bristol and the surrounding area.
For sonar drain tracing from a Which? Trusted Trader, call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
Curious if a domestic pressure washer can handle drain jetting?
We’ve been asked this question countless times, and if you’re experiencing drain problems (foul smells, poor drainage, backups, etc.) and happen to have a domestic pressure washer in your garage or shed, you may be wondering the same thing.
Are household pressure washers the same as the drain jetters used by drainage professionals such as the Mega-Rod team to get wastewater flowing again?
Would the pressure washer you bought from your local DIY store unblock and clean your underground pipes?
How does it compare to drain jetting equipment?
Drain jetters and domestic pressure washers both emit high-pressure jets of water in order to get rid of grime and other unwelcome substances. And they both feature motors, pumps, hoses and nozzles. But that’s where the similarities end.
Drain jetting equipment is significantly more powerful, effective and precise than the domestic pressure washer you use to clean your car, bike or patio. Household pressure washers remove dirt from flattish surfaces. By contrast, a drain jetter is specifically designed to eliminate even stubborn blockages in many different types and sizes of drain, as well as deep-cleaning drainage systems and dramatically improving the flow of wastewater.
When you ask a drainage company to carry out drain jetting at your property, you’ll see some impressive equipment at work. We usually begin by conducting a CCTV drain camera inspection to locate and identify the issue. For example, your drain problems may be caused by cooking fat solidifying in the pipework. We can rapidly resolve an issue like that with a drain jetter, one of the most remarkable tools at our disposal.
Drain jetting is the best, most effective way to clear and clean drains. It requires a large volume of water, which can be drawn either from a tank on board one of our vehicles or the municipal water supply. The drain jetter’s motor drives a pump that pressurises the water with the aid of pistons. The amount of water being used, as well as the water pressure, is controlled, monitored and adjusted with a hand-held control panel or similar device.
The pressurised water is forced through a hose that’s fed into the drains. The hose is flexible enough to negotiate bends and long enough to reach deep inside the pipework. Its nozzle shapes and directs the water jets. Different nozzles are available for different purposes. For instance, penetrator nozzles emit particularly intense, narrow jets to cut through dense obstructions with laser-like ease and precision, while rotating nozzles ensure drains receive a 360° clean.
Front jets are directed forwards – they blast and break down blockages and congestion. Back jets are directed backwards – they spray and scour pipe walls to remove any greasy/grimy residue, enhancing the drain unblocking and drain cleaning process. The back jets also act like the thrusters on a rocket – they provide the force needed to propel the hose through the drainage system.
Once broken down, rogue substances flow from drains to the sewers and/or are ejected from the drain opening and disposed of by our experts.
‘The interaction between pressure and flow ensures comprehensive cleaning of the entire drain pipe infrastructure,’ emphasises Rioned, which supplies drain jetters to the drainage industry.
The pressure at which jets leave a typical drain jetter is 3,000-8,000 pounds per square inch (PSI). The amount of water the jetter discharges (i.e. the flow rate) is likely to be around 4-25 gallons per minute (GPM). With household pressure washers, water pressures of 1,000 PSI and flow rates of 2.5 GPM are common – in a nutshell, they can’t match the power of professional drain jetting.
Domestic pressure washers fall short in other areas too. Their hoses are shorter and less flexible than drain jetting hoses, so they’re ill-suited to underground pipe networks. They tend to be supplied with simple spray gun-style nozzles rather than the specialist options used by drainage experts. And it’s harder to fine-tune the pressure and flow rates than with a drain jetter.
In short, we’d never advise homeowners to try and jet their drains with domestic pressure washers. You’re highly unlikely to resolve your drainage problems and may do more harm than good. Plus, you risk exposing yourself to the hazardous substances found in wastewater.
When you want to blast blockages, clear congestion and deep-clean drains, a household pressure washer just won’t do.
Thankfully, you can rely on Mega-Rod’s Bristol and Bath drain jetting service instead. We’re a Which? Trusted Trader with decades of experience resolving drainage problems.
Need your drains jetting? Call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
Taking steps to protect your drains can help you avoid the stress and inconvenience of drain issues and save money on drain repairs.
As a leading Bath drainage company, we know drain maintenance makes a huge difference to our customers. When you focus on protecting your drains, you’re helping to extend their lifespan and improve their performance, as well as making it easier to nip problems in the bud.
Drain maintenance can also help you to preserve your property’s value. If you decide to sell and the prospective buyer arranges a homebuyer’s drain survey, you may need to lower the sale price should major faults be found. Indeed, ‘buyers are often deterred by the prospect of costly repairs’, remarks Property Saviour.
Protecting your drains has many benefits – so read on for our best drain-care tips.
By guiding a camera through your drainage system, we can locate/map the pipework, assess its condition and diagnose problems without any excavation work. This makes yearly CCTV drain surveys an incredibly convenient and effective way to protect your drains.
Fried breakfasts, fish and chips, roast chicken… If you enjoy the most popular British dishes, you may well be pouring used cooking oil, fat and grease down the sink. But did you know they can form drain-blocking mini fatbergs when they congeal? Protect your drains by disposing of oil, fat and grease properly. Let them cool slightly, carefully pour them into sealable plastic containers and place them in the bin once cold.
Disposable wet wipes are too fibrous and strong to break down easily in your drains (90% contain plastic, notes Wessex Water). So if you flush them away, you may soon need our drain unblocking service. Always bin them instead – or buy reusable alternatives.
It’s normal to lose 50-100 hairs each day. But if too many get washed down the plughole, they contribute to drain congestion, especially when covered in haircare products’ sticky residue. That’s why you should brush your hair before showering.
Also, remove pet hair from pet bedding before washing those items. Specially-designed pet hair rollers simplify the process.
Another effective form of drain maintenance is to cover drain gratings with drain guards. Made of durable plastic and designed to fit snugly around downpipes, they’re available from hardware shops. Drain guards stop leaves, twigs, soil, gravel and litter from being blown into your drainage system and clogging pipes.
You can take a similar approach to drain care indoors by putting plughole strainers in your sink, basin, shower and bath. These sieve-like plughole covers reduce the number of rogue substances (food debris, dirt, etc.) entering your drainage system, thereby reducing the risk of blockages. All you need to do is empty the strainers regularly.
Toilet paper manufacturers have come up with various ways to tempt consumers to spend more on this household essential. For example, quilted and scented options are relatively pricey. But because they’re dense and/or contain fragranced oils, they don’t disintegrate as easily as cheaper products. ‘Slow-dissolving toilet paper can get caught in your pipes,’ Family Handyman warns. So to protect your drains, switch to inexpensive 1-ply toilet roll.
A crucial aspect of drain maintenance involves familiarising yourself with the signs of blocked drains so you can seek professional assistance if required without delay. If you notice horrible smells, gurgling noises, slow drainage, standing water or backups, our Bath drain unblocking team can use specialist drain jetting, snaking or rodding techniques to get wastewater flowing again.
One of the simplest ways to protect your drains is to pour hot water from the kettle down plugholes every couple of weeks. The water will help to melt and dislodge anything clinging to drain walls. For a drainage boost, Good Housekeeping suggests pouring 125g bicarbonate of soda and then 125ml distilled white vinegar down plugholes and letting the mixture fizz for five minutes before washing it away with hot water.
Drain jetting, which uses high-pressure water to eliminate congestion and obstructions, is the most effective way to give drains a comprehensive clean. It’s also far safer than chemical drain cleaners. We recommend that our drain jetting customers book this service annually to help keep their drainage system in tip-top condition – it’s a superb way to protect pipework.
For all your Bath drain maintenance needs, call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
A collapsed drain is arguably the most serious drainage problem a property owner can face and requires urgent attention from a reliable drainage company. Drains collapse because they’ve become extremely structurally unsound. The effects are dramatic and destructive: when pipe walls cave in, they stop wastewater filled with contaminants from toilets, showers, washing machines, etc. flowing away from properties, thereby putting people’s health at risk. Collapsed drains can completely derail drainage systems and make daily life a nightmare.
Wastewater will leak out of a collapsed drain and soak into the surrounding soil. It may ultimately be absorbed by the foundations and walls of the property connected to the drainage system. If the collapsed drain isn’t dealt with promptly, the ground beneath the building and the building itself could become dangerously unstable. ‘It’s crucial to get it fixed right away,’ emphasises Checkatrade’s collapsed drain repair cost guide.
Resolving collapsed drain issues requires specialist skills and equipment – you’ll want to make speaking to drainage experts such as the Mega-Rod Bath team a priority. Our collapsed drain repair service is available to residential and commercial customers in Bath, Bristol and beyond. And you’ll be relieved to hear we offer 24/7 emergency callouts because we know major drainage problems can occur during the day or night, so please feel free to contact us anytime.
When a drain collapses, there’s a good chance at least one of the following factors is to blame:
You may well be wondering how to tell if you have a collapsed drain. There are several key signs to watch out for, all of which are rather unpleasant:
If you suspect that you have a collapsed drain, try not to panic. What you need to do to fix the problem is obtain professional assistance. Remember that Mega-Rod provides an effective collapsed drain response service, and you can easily contact us.
It’s also sensible to alert your insurance provider to the situation, as it may cover the cost of collapsed drain repairs. ‘Most buildings insurance policies cover damage to underground pipes,’ as the Financial Ombudsman Service explains, as long as the damage is accidental.
We’ll conduct a CCTV drain survey to locate and diagnose your drainage problem. If a drain has indeed collapsed, the next step is for us to assess the damage and decide how best to resolve the issue.
It might be possible to reline the pipe by inserting a resin-soaked cloth liner that will harden and become watertight. However, most collapsed drains need to be replaced, which involves excavation work. But don’t worry, we make every effort to minimise any disruption, so life can soon go back to normal at your home or business.
For expert help with collapsed drains, call Mega-Rod today on 01225 422980.
