How to Keep Your Home’s Secret Underground Pipes Happy and Clog-Free!
Have you ever thought about what happens after you flush the toilet or watch water slide down the sink drain? It travels into a giant, secret underground pipe called the sewer line.
Your sewer line has one big job: to carry all the dirty water away from your house. But sometimes, things get stuck in there, causing a giant, messy traffic jam (a clog!). When that happens, yucky water can back up into your house. Gross, right?
Don’t worry! Here are 3 simple tricks to prevent sewer line blockages and keep your pipes happy.
1. The Toilet is NOT a Trash Can
The only things that should ever go down the toilet are toilet paper and human waste. That’s it!
Even if a package of wet wipes says “flushable” on the box, do not believe it! Flushable wipes do not melt in water like toilet paper does. Instead, they act like blankets inside your pipes, catching other bits of trash and creating a monster clog.
Rule of thumb: If it’s not toilet paper, throw it in the trash can!
2. Keep the “F.O.G.” Out of the Kitchen Sink
No, we don’t mean the weather! F.O.G. stands for:
Fats
Oils
Grease
When you cook yummy things like bacon or burgers, the leftover grease looks like liquid. But when it cools down, it turns hard and sticky—just like butter in the fridge. If you pour liquid grease down the sink, it will cool down inside your cold underground pipes, turn solid, and trap food like a spiderweb.
What to do instead: Wait for the grease to cool down, scrape it into an old can or jar, and throw it in the trash!
3. Beware of Thirsty Tree Roots
Trees love water, and their roots are always searching for a drink underground. Guess what holds a lot of water? Your sewer pipes!
If your pipes have even a tiny, invisible crack, tree roots can smell the water. They will push their way inside the pipe to get a drink. Once inside, they grow bigger and bigger until they completely block the pipe.
What to do instead: If your family is planting beautiful new trees in the yard, make sure to plant them far away from where the underground sewer pipes are buried!
Keep Your Pipes Flowing!
Preventing a sewer blockage is super easy once you know these rules. Just remember: keep trash out of the toilet, grease out of the sink, and trees away from your pipes!