Victorian terraced drains persistently blocked

[hinchcliffem]

Hi. We are having persistent problems with our drains blocking and hoping that someone here can provide some advice and solutions.
We bought a Victorian terraced house two years ago and the main drain at the back, under and at the front of the house have been consistently blocked since then.

The problem:
Lifting the drain cover at the front of the house shows that the waste is not flowing through the trap sufficiently and it is blocking as a result.
At the back of the house, the waste does not flow enough under the house and backs up very quickly, giving us an overflowing drain cover and terrible smells in the kitchen.
Each time the drains are unblocked, they are blocked and stinking again in a couple of months.

What we have tried:
We have had the drains un-blocked (rodded and power-washed) several times.
We have had the drain under the house de-scaled twice.
We have had CCTV down there twice and it has shown no bellies, lips or other blockages in the pipes… just a bit of build-up of scale.
We had someone put some pretty strong chemicals down the trap that connects us to the main sewer to clean that out too.

We have been told by a couple of indy drain companies now that this is a persistent problem that won’t go away.
Essentially, because we don’t have enough water going down the drain (low-flow toilets, no baths, etc) and because the drop in the drain under the house is very shallow – we will forever have waste water that does not flow enough; scale builds up; becomes more blocked; more scale, etc…

Really grateful if anyone can advise?
- Does this sound right?
- Are there any solutions to the persistent blockages?
- Any solutions to the low-flow or shallow drop in the drain?
Thanks in advance.

 

[centralheatking]

I am interested in your problem. And will ask you pertinent
questions. 1st
1. location post code wil do
2. can you put up a ground plan ..sketch plan
3. Are you owner occupier leaseholder or a renter ?
Centralheatking

 

[snowhead]

Has anyone mentioned an Interceptor on the outlet to the front
manhole?


https:///www.labc.co.uk/news/my-dad-told-me-about-them-drain-interceptors

 

[hinchcliffem]

Has anyone mentioned an Interceptor on the outlet to the front
manhole?

View attachment 39935
https:///www.labc.co.uk/news/my-dad-told-me-about-them-drain-interceptors

Hi - Thanks for your reply.
Yes, should ave mentioned that we have an interceptor trap at the front of the house where we connect to the main sewer. This has also been chemically cleaned out recently.
Problem still persists.
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks.

 

[WC1]

Has anyone suggested removing it?

 

[snowhead]

Yes, should ave mentioned that we have an interceptor trap at the front of the house
Any suggestions welcome.

Yes, get rid of the trap.
Unfortunately not a cheap or easy job.

There's no need for them in todays vented systems.
In a system with poor flow due to inadequate fall on the pipework the trap will allow grease to settle in the trap and eventually block.

The alternative that I used to do in one of my previous houses and my Son used to do in a house he owned later was to tip 1/2 a dustbin full of water down the manhole regularly to move solids from the trap.

 

[hinchcliffem]

Thanks. A neighbor in the same terraced row suggested removing the trap when we moved in, but everyone we have had out to look at the problem (including Thames Water and 3 indy companies) has advised against it or just said it is a job they wouldnt do themselves.
How big of a job is it? In the £,000s?

 

[WC1]

Go on Thames water website and get an approved underground drainage contractor to quote. Yes in the thousands but how many depends on the ease of digging so not possible to say without a site visit. Balance that against the cost of getting someone out on a regular basis to clear it and the unpleasantness of the problem when it blocks. Also try your insurer.

 

[Aire]

I take it this problem with the drainage wasn't mentioned by the previous owners or picked up on survey?

 

[hinchcliffem]

Go on Thames water website and get an approved underground drainage contractor to quote. Yes in the thousands but how many depends on the ease of digging so not possible to say without a site visit. Balance that against the cost of getting someone out on a regular basis to clear it and the unpleasantness of the problem when it blocks. Also try your insurer.

Many thanks. Will check that out.

 

[hinchcliffem]

I take it this problem with the drainage wasn't mentioned by the previous owners or picked up on survey?

No.
No mention anywhere when we were buying.
We subsequently learned that neighbors had similar problems though.

 

[Aire]

No.
No mention anywhere when we were buying.
We subsequently learned that neighbors had similar problems though.

I'm not an expert regarding the legal side of selling houses and maybe someone can confirm, but isn't it a legal requirement to disclose problems with utility services when selling your property? Clearly this hasn't happened overnight and probably been an issue for decades. I don't know who you could speak to about it or even if it's worth perusing but if this is going to cost thousands to put right, I'd be wanting answers off both the previous owners and the survey provider as to why it wasn't disclosed.

 

[Chuck]

Lifting the drain cover at the front of the house shows that the waste is not flowing through the trap sufficiently and it is blocking as a result.

Are your family careful about not putting stuff like cooking fat and/or wet-wipes, etc. down the drain?

 

[hinchcliffem]

Are your family careful about not putting stuff like cooking fat and/or wet-wipes, etc. down the drain?

Very careful!
However, there are only two of us in the house... low-flow toilets... showers not baths, etc means that we dont have a lot of water going down there either.

 

[WC1]

I'm not an expert regarding the legal side of selling houses and maybe someone can confirm, but isn't it a legal requirement to disclose problems with utility services when selling your property? Clearly this hasn't happened overnight and probably been an issue for decades. I don't know who you could speak to about it or even if it's worth perusing but if this is going to cost thousands to put right, I'd be wanting answers off both the previous owners and the survey provider as to why it wasn't disclosed.

Hi Craig, yes, the vendor should disclose known problems but in this case it would be impossible to prove the vendor knew and deliberately hid it.
The survey is literally that - looking around the property (generall by a bloke in a suit), lifting inspection covers etc is not something that would normally be done - getting a plumber to do a report on the condition of the plumbing would have been helpful (hindsight etc).
There may be some sort of insurance for latent defects on the purchase but thats not something I'm familiar with.
By all means have a poke at the surveyor, vendor, and your own buildings insurance.

 

[centralheatking]

Are you on a water meter ? If this is collective problem then your
utility are duty bound to get in there and solve it. Problems with more than 1x drainage system ie a shared network are now the responsibility of the
local utility....not yours...this includes all drains and septic tanks etc.....its relatively new legislation and obviously the people you call wont tell you....but thats the way it now stacks up Centralheatking