Snakes in a drain

By Tanya Olckers

The beginner’s guide to drain cleaning.

Brian Masenya demonstrates rod manufacture. © Plumbing Africa

Plumbers come across some really weird stuff in drains. The strangest thing that drain cleaning specialist, Brian Masenya from Ian Dickie, has ever found in a drain is a python. The snake itself was still alive, however, it was contributing to a blockage on a main line in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.

The snake most likely got into the pipe system through an open manhole and made itself comfortable. The plumbers sent to clear the pipe system were less comfortable.

“Before unblocking any drain, you should first be very familiar with installing drains,” says Arthur Classen of AJC Plumbing. “You’ll need to know all the fittings, their uses, applications and installation methods because the only part of the drain you’ll see is a round piece of pipe that’s overflowing. You will need to stand back and visualise where the pipes run and what could be causing the obstruction.”

The reality is that drains don’t block themselves. Poor installation could be a cause of the blockage, but more commonly the problem lies with pesky ‘foreign objects’ that people have chucked down the toilet, such as feminine hygiene products, nappies and the odd vuvuzela.

Sand, bathroom items and toilet cleaning products can easily become wedged. Roots can cause a great deal of damage and are known to get in anywhere. Also, a hopelessly lost python (or any other kind of snake really) could easily slip into an open manhole and find itself having to rebuild its life in a sewer line.

Back in the day, rods were used almost exclusively. Plumbers had to sometimes dig into the ground to the pipe to sort out the blockage.

“Imagine that,” says Classen, “You have to dig open the pipe, and either remove the obstruction by hand or use the rods. These days all plumbing must be hidden and forgotten and that’s why we need tech because people forget about maintenance.”

A chain flail attachment from Hawk Pumps Supplied by: Hawk Pumps

Before setting out to clear a blocked drain, Classen advises, “Know where you will be washing your hands, and how you plan to clean up the mess!” 

NuFlow Maxi Picote – one of the bad boys in the SA Leak arsenal. Supplied by: SA Leak

How are drains cleaned with rods?

If there is enough access – and there should be – drain rods can be used to clear obstructions. A standard drain rod is two metres long and meant to be straight. It has a female end which is a coupling, made up of two threaded sections. The other end of the rod has a male nut which slides over the rod and is kept on by the sharp 90-degree bend at the end of the rod. This 90-degree bend will fit into the female part at the end of the next rod.

The bend slips through the threaded section and out a designated opening. The male nut slides down and is tightened into place. This gives the rods a great amount of flexibility and strength.

The rods are joined together for the length necessary to reach the obstructions.

There are various attachments that can be put onto the rods to help remove obstructions. The most common of these is the plunger. This is a thick rubber disk which will fill the diameter of the pipe when inserted like a plug on a rod. This is used by inserting the rods into the blocked pipe and then by pulling and pushing the plunger. The kinetic force of the water dislodges the obstruction.

Another favourite is the corkscrew, shaped just like the ones used to open wine bottles. Corkscrews are fabulous for root removal and are inserted into the blocked line and by turning it clockwise, (always clockwise) the obstruction can be hooked and pulled out.

A small portable system © Plumbing Africa

High Tech Solutions

Adler Teubes from Rothenberger Tools believes that every plumber starting out needs to get some basic tools for their kit. Drain cleaning and unblocking is most likely going to be one of the jobs that a plumber will find themselves called out to do more than any other.

While the tool company has a number of solutions for plumbing, they do have some recommendations that form the essentials for someone starting out a plumbing business.

“The R600 is a great tool to have in your drain cleaning arsenal,” says Teubes. “It’s battery operated and can clean blockages in sewage pipes up to 160mm.” And, since it has a battery and is portable, it’s ideal for South Africa’s loadshedding situation.

An easy solution for clearing blockages is the use of air pressure drain cleaning device. This device is operated by pulling a lever backwards so that it can suck in air. A seal within the device ensures that the air doesn’t manage to escape or head in the wrong direction. The pump is depressed, the air is forced out and the blockage is pushed past the pan connector, the gulley and out into the drain. Blockage taken care of.

“We have the Ropump Plus,” says Teubes, “It’s just the right size and fit for clearing a blocked toilet. The device is angled so that it can get into those difficult spots that you might struggle to reach with rods.”

Teubes recommends a Ropump for removing toilet blockages and the Rospi to assist with removing blockages in sinks and showers as excellent starting points for the plumber just getting started.

Jetters

Plumbers would also find jetting equipment useful. Hydro-jetting machines make use of water that is under pressure to clear blockages. The force coming out of these instruments can be so powerful that they could quite literally peel the skin off a human being.

“Various jetters are used for cleaning,” says Kaveer Sirkar, manager at NuFlow (Pty) LTD.  “The thing to remember, however, is that the jetters can clean the drain, but may not necessarily alleviate the problem if the line you are working on is damaged.”

Sirkar’s recommendation is that before beginning a jetting exercise, a camera inspection should be done. This will help the plumber assess what precisely is causing the blockage. If it’s debris from a collapsed pipe, no amount of jetting and cleaning will solve the problem – the pipe could need to be replaced.

“Blind jetting could potentially cause more damage because you have no idea what the source of the blockage is,” he explains.

The important part of the jetter is the nozzle. This sentiment is echoed by Masenya and Sirkar. Different nozzles perform different functions and can withstand certain degrees of pressure. Some nozzles need a specific pressure and flow in order to function optimally 

Wayne Golding, internal sales manager at Hawk Pumps says, “It’s not just about the pressure, but flow as well. You also need to use the right nozzle to cut and to flush out. The correct selected drain cleaning nozzle fitted with the exact calculated inserts to suit your flow, pressure, and accommodating losses for system set-up are critical to give you optimum nozzle performance and is key to your best jetting machine operation.”

Golding explains his steps for drain cleaning. First, he recommends, that the drain size needs to be determined. Most importantly, though, the plumber needs to be confident that he is able to do the job properly and in a manner that is not just competent, but compliant.

“Start with a standard drain jetting nozzle, which gives you a general all round drain clean. While jetting with this nozzle you must observe what other types of sewer debris are being flushed down the line,” says Golding. “While observing the other types of debris – normally things like papers and plastics – you then decide on the next nozzle required. Change your nozzle to the chisel point nozzle which has multiple forwarding piercing jets and thrust or propulsion jets.”

If you encounter things like sand, stones and gravel, you can switch to the grenade bomb nozzle with a hight thrust action and a heavier weight propelling itself along the floor of the sewer line. For fats, greases and calcareous pipe residues you use a 360 ° drain spinner nozzle to clean.

Chain-flail and similar root cutter nozzles are used to remove root intrusions inside pipelines. Each drain jetting nozzle has a specific cleaning action and normally a set of jetting nozzles is recommended to be purchased together with your drain jetting machine, so that you can attack any blockage, obstruction, and problem you find while jetting.

Many of the equipment suppliers provide training for the machines that they provide the industry, so it is best to engage in training before even thinking about which machine you need to use. Of course, you need to know what you are doing before you approach a drain.

We would like to hear from you about what weird things you have found in drains. Log onto our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/plumbingonline/ and share your stories – and your pictures. (Especially if you’ve found snakes!)

Balloon pump. © Plumbing Africa