You wouldn’t believe what some people will attempt to flush down the toilet, or won’t bother cleaning from their drains and pipework. When you don’t take care of your drains, you’ll pay for it later on. Let’s take a look at the 10 most common things blocking drains on the Gold Coast.
Everybody needs some form of drain maintenance, even those who tend to take good care of their drains and ensure that nothing untoward makes its way down there. However, you’ll end up paying a lot more money, making more callouts, and experiencing more issues if you’re careless with what goes into your drains.
1. Kids Toys
Flushing kids toys down the toilet or putting them in the garbage disposal might not be something you’ve ever done before, but that doesn’t mean other people don’t do it.
Kids toys are one of the most common things blocking drains on the Gold Coast.
Some young kids may think they are playing without realising what they are doing, but who really knows how they end up there?
The most important thing is to make sure they stay well away from your drains!
If you really don’t want them, give them to somebody who will use them.
2. Flushable Wipes
Wipes don’t break down in the sewerage system, even those that are labelled as ‘flushable’.
Many flushable wipes do not break down in water, and will cause an even bigger issue if they continue to be flushed.
Repairs are costly, and a huge proportion of blockages are due to wipes.
Put them in the bin, or better yet, use something else that can actually biodegrade and won’t clutter the planet.
3. Clothing
When you have unwanted clothing, you could give it to a friend, take it to a charity store, sell it on, or even make a cushion cover out of it.
What you shouldn’t do is flush it down the toilet or put it in your garbage disposal.
Clothing is terrible for causing blocked drains, and it makes no sense to spend a ton of money unclogging a drain because you couldn’t be bothered to dispose of them properly.
4. Cigarette butts
Cigarette butts may only be small, but they certainly pose a huge risk to your drains.
They don’t break down and actually expand in water, so if you continue flushing them down the toilet, they will cause a problem at some stage.
Put them in the bin, or better yet, do what’s best for your health and quit smoking!
Your risk of blocked drains from flushing butts will reduce and you’ll you’ll get to improve your health at the same time!
5. Sanitary items
Sanitary items are frequently found to be blocking drains on the Gold Coast, and they should always be put in the bin instead.
Like many of the other items on this list, they do not biodegrade, and need to be put in the bin.
Our Gold Coast plumbers find that many cases of blocked drains on the Gold Coast tend to be caused by sanitary items being flushed when the safest way to dispose of them is simply to put them into the rubbish bin with other non-flushable objects.
6. Hair accumulates and blocks drains
You don’t have to have a lot of hair to have hair build up in your drains over time.
Cleaning it out each time you have a bath or a shower will ensure your drains aren’t being blocked up with a ton of hair.
It can be difficult to remove if you let it get too bad, and your bath/sink/shower won’t drain water properly.
7. Tree Roots blocking drains on the Gold Coast
You can’t always help tree roots blocking your drains, but you can keep a close eye on what’s going on and have them seen to before they get out of hand.
If a tree is growing particularly fast, then you might be better off having it removed so that it doesn’t invade your drain pipes as a source of water.
However it’s best not to try to do this yourself or you could make the issue worse.
8. Food Waste
Food waste is often put in the garbage disposal, but there are certain types of foods that cause more issues than others.
If you don’t have a garbage disposal, then all kinds of food can block your drains.
Pasta, vegetable peelings, fruit peel, and anything oily and greasy can cause problems.
9. Fatbergs
Fatbergs is a term used to describe the accumulation of fat and oil, and according to this article by the ABC, they cost millions of dollars to remove each year.
Make sure you never put fats, oil, or grease down the sink otherwise it can slowly clog your drains and require major work to unblock.
Empty it into the bin instead.
10. Cotton Balls blocking drains on the Gold Coast
Cotton balls do not dissolve and will block your drains every time.
Their fiberous, stringy texture also means they’ll easily get snaged around any edges or other objects in the drain which then makes it more likely for other things to get caught in the drain and rapidly grow the drain blockage issue.
Put them in the bin, not down the drain.
Final thoughts
Use your common sense when deciding what to put into the bin, and what to put down the drain.
If you do that, you’ll be far less likely to need one of our plumbers to help unblock your drains.
