Stormwater-Flood
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Found Your Stormwater Drain Blocked? Avoid Disaster!

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Updated 2024 by Joe Rantino.    Well, it’s another wet Sydney summer and your stormwater drains have had a rough few years.  Storm water drains are pipes that connect pipes from the roof to sumps in the garden, which then discharge water into the water table or kerb in the street. Blocked stormwater drains are fast becoming Sydney’s biggest plumbing problem.  Every second callout is to clear stormwater blockages that are impacting backyard drainag.  If your storm water drain is blocked, you’ll notice increasing levels of water pooling around the backyard.  If the water pools are growing with every new rain storm, and taking longer and longer to clear, you might be looking at a pending plumbing disaster.  

How to avoid a blocked stormwater drain

Thoroughly check household and stormwater drains regularly to ensure they’re working properly and disposing of household water.  Check for trickles at the stormwater drain outlet on the street outside your home even after dry weather.  Check for water pooling around outside drains.  Monitor tree roots and other high-risk problems around backyard drainage.   Check your relief gullies and any other drainage infrastructure for flow.  

What to do if you find a blocked stormwater drain

Nobody wants to call in plumbers in Sydney.  We know, our industry is full of people who don’t show up, who bait and switch with pricing, who leave mess and who generally don’t do a great job.  If you find a blocked stormwater drain, you may need to call in a reliable plumber because serious blockages require specialist tools to correct.  Gladesville Plumbing has earned our reputation for reliability, competence and transparent pricing over the last twenty years.  The reason we get recommended so much is that our clients have tried other Sydney plumbers previously!  There are a few DIY drain unblocking methods you can try first but, in all honesty, stormwater drain clearing is a lot trickier than a blocked sink.  Give it a go but if these don’t work, just call us, we’ll get it sorted.

Why it’s so hard to unblock stormwater drains yourself?

You’ll know your drains need to be unblocked if your yard is slow to drain after rainfall or your gutters are leaking.  More problematic is if the inundation is getting into your roof cavity and you’re seeing water patches on ceilings. If you’re seeing water pooling after a relatively light rainfall, you may have issues with blocked stormwater drainage. Cleaning a blocked drain can often be a huge headache, especially when you’re low on time or funds.

  1. Natural methods. You could use boiling water if you know the block is due to dirt.  Pouring boiling water into your gutters and downpipes isn’t easy and can be dangerous so be careful!  Otherwise, natural enzymes are the next place to try. Try ½ cup salt, ½ cup bi-carb of soda, 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup hot water. This recipe is harmless for the environment, your pipes and you. It will, however, have little to no effect on severe blockages.  You may try using a pressure cleaner to attempt to dislodge any dirt or silt based blockage but you don’t want to force a solid object further into the pipes.
  2. The Classic Plunger Method won’t work on stormwater drainage. Roofwater and backyard drainage issues can’t be managed with a plunger as you cannot “get a seal” like you can with a sink or toilet.
  3. Getting technical. You could always hire a drain auger, also known as a plumber’s snake or electric eel. This tool can unblock just about anything, including shifting tree roots away from your pipes. The downside to this method is that they require a fair amount of skill to properly operate, and can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Avoid “poking a broom” down your downpipes.  I cannot stress this enough.  The further you push the blockage into the pipe, the more difficult it will be to clear.
  4. Chemistry. Because your stormwater drains to creeks and the ocean, you cannot use harsh chemicals to attempt to clear blockages.  In all honesty, your stormwater drainage blockage is most likely due to leaf matter or intrusive roots.  Chemistry is not going to help here.

What a professional plumber will do

They most commonly block due to tree roots, dirt, leaf matter and silt lying in the pipes. It’s almost impossible to clear the pipes yourself, so you’ll want to call in a professional. When you do, we’ll bring a high water pressure drainage machine. High water pressure drainage machine are the best drain cleaners and are perfect for this situation. They use high pressure water to remove dirt, leaves and silt from the blocked storm water drain. We may also bring an “electric eel” or CCTV cameras to learn more about a stubborn blockage.  Any other conventional methods just aren’t as suitable.  If in doubt call in professional plumbing services in Sydney!

Call us at Gladesville Plumbing on 9817 4777 or visit us online and book your expert plumber today!

Is your stormwater drain blocked? The next storm could be disasterous. Call Gladesville Plumbing today!

 

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