The Drain Experts

Sewage Overflow

Handling Sewage Overflow in Your Garden: Cleanup and Prevention

Whether you’ve noticed it after waking up in the morning, on your midday run or after returning home from work, let’s face it–there’s never a good time to have a sewage overflow.  Unlike your typical blocked drain or leaky tap, they can be more than annoying. In fact, sewage overflows can greatly affect your health and cause extreme damage to your property.

We’re going to discuss what you need to know about sewage overflows, including what they are, how they happen and what to do if you experience one. Due to their potential health effects, it’s important to act fast.

Let’s begin.

What Is a Sewage Overflow?

This term refers to when material from your sewage system backs up and flows into your property. In this case, we are talking about overflows in the front garden specifically. This sewage is extremely dangerous if you come into contact with it or anything it has touched, as it contains nasty viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms that can cause serious infections and illnesses.

A sewage overflow might look like nothing more than a bit of flooded water, but more often they’ll often contain waste from your sewage systems, which will also bring an accompanying smell. Once you come across the overflow, you’ll probably know immediately what it is!

Need a drainage plumber in Balwyn, Northcote or Glen Waverley? Sven’s Blocked Drains are the professionals to call!

How Do Sewage Overflows Occur?

Like most plumbing problems, sewage overflows are usually caused by blockages in the pipes, both in the public system and from a septic tank. These blockages can be used by a range of factors, not all of which you’ll have control over.

Common causes can include:

  • Food wastage, like oils, fats and scraps, can solidify in your plumbing system.
  • Forcing inappropriate objects down your drains, like nappies, sanitary items, rags and toiletries, can cause them to get stuck and block your pipes.
  • Tree roots seeking water can infiltrate, damage and block the flow of water in your system.
  • Outside construction or roadworks can cause accidental damage to your sewage pipes.

If your pipes become blocked, water trying to flow through them can be blocked and then reverse its journey, causing it to instead come out of your garden’s drains. If the pipes are cracked or broken, it can also spread out into the soil.

To find out how other drainage problems can happen, read our blog on Common Drainage Problems and How to Avoid Them.

How Can I Safely Clean Up Sewage Overflow?

Plumber inspecting overflowing sewage

It’s incredibly dangerous to handle raw sewage if it has started flowing into your garden. You don’t want to pick up any nasties from the water, plus it can easily stain your clothing if you’re not careful. That’s why you should always leave the cleanup process to a professional plumber who offers this type of service.

A specialist blocked drain plumber in Melbourne, like those from Sven’s Blocked Drains, will arrive at the scene with everything needed to successfully fix your overflowing sewage. In our van, you can expect to find:

  • CCTV drain cameras: These handy cameras are small but powerful! They can be fed through pipes to provide us with an image of their interiors, allowing us to discover any damages in the pipes or blockages.
  • High-pressure jet cleaners: These powerful hoses spray out a forceful jet of water that can clear most blockages and even cut through things like small tree roots!
  • Air snakes: These nifty contraptions act like high-pressure hoses, but instead of using powerful jets of water, they use air instead! This means you can force air through a drain while leaving its cover in place.
  • Plumbing snakes: These long rope-like tools have a spinning clawed end that, when fed through a drain, can break up clogs and either allow them to be pushed through or bring them back through the entrance of the drain for disposal.
  • High-grade drain acid: The correct types of acid can be powerful tools in cleaning and clearing drain systems. Drain acid is designed to break up fatty clogs without harming the surrounding pipes.
  • Drain relining supplies: Relining a drain is a smart way to repair it without having to dig it up. Relining drains allows you to create a ‘new drain’ that is smooth, durable and can resist damage.

We will use these to discover the cause of the overflow, make any needed repairs and strengthen the pipes to prevent overflows in the future. We also offer a professional cleaning and disinfecting service that can restore your garden to its previous clean condition. This is a great service to choose, as it will keep you and your family safe from any of the dangers associated with handling raw sewage.

For more information about sewage overflows and what you can do if one has happened, read the Victorian Department of Health’s article on Sewage Overflows At Home.

Do you have blocked drains in your Box Hill, Glen Iris, Malvern, Kew, Hawthorn or Camberwell property? Call Sven’s Blocked Drains at any time, and we’ll arrive quickly to assist.

How Can I Prevent My Sewage From Overflowing?

Once you’ve experienced an overflow in your sewage system, you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t happen again! We’ll repair the problem and, if your pipes have been damaged, repair them to prevent another overflow from occurring.

There are a few things you can do to help keep your drainage system in good health and prevent overflows. Here are some top tips to follow:

Keep An Eye On What Goes Down Your Drains!

If something has gone wrong with your pipe system, the most common cause of the issue is a blockage that has been caused by something in your drains that shouldn’t be. Ideally, the only things that go into your sewage system should be water, soap and human waste.

Contact Us Today
Top Drain Repair Services
Specialized blocked drain services in Melbourne. Expert repairs with the latest tech for all homes.

Make sure you’re not flushing any of the following down your toilet, or putting them down your kitchen sink:

  1. Nappies, sanitary items and other cloth materials. These can absorb water, swell and become stuck in your pipes. It’s better to have a dedicated bin in your bathroom for these items.
  1. Cooking fats like butter, oil and grease. While they may seem liquid while they’re in the pan, if you pour them down your drain they will cool and solidify into a blockage. Instead, pour oil into an old jar and keep it under your sink, then throw it out in your bin once full.
  1. Food waste, like chopped veggies, meat scraps and breadcrumbs. If any of these food particles catch, like in a greasy food trap, they can start to rot and cause a horrible smell to emanate from your drains. They can also attract the attention of pests like insects and rodents!

It might seem a little easier to pop waste into your drain instead of the bin, but don’t be tempted! The costs, stress and time you’ll spend fixing your blocked drains make the effort of disposing of things correctly one that is worthy of your time.

For more information on what can cause a blocked drain, make sure to read our blog on What Causes Blocked Drains – The Top 5 Reasons.

Clean Your Drains Regularly

Keeping your drains clean doesn’t mean you need to roll up your sleeves and start furiously scrubbing at every drain in your house. In fact, you can clean your drains by using a few pantry staples!

The easiest method of cleaning your drains is to start by pouring hot water down your drains every now and then. Hot water can soften clogs and waste scraps, moving them along your pipes and, hopefully’ out into your sewage system before they have the chance to cause a complete blockage. Don’t use boiling water for this, as it can cause cold pipes to crack or warp.

You can also use everyone’s favourite natural cleaning solution, backing soda and vinegar, for drain cleaning. Simply pour one cup of baking soda down your drain, followed by one cup of vinegar. Let the mixture bubble and work for ten minutes, then wash away with hot water. This mixture can break down clogs, and as a bonus, it will also leave your drain covers looking clean and shiny!

For more in-depth explanations on how to keep your drains healthy and prevent overflows, check out our blog on our Top 5 Tips for Maintaining Your Home’s Drainage System Efficiently.

Call Sven’s Next Time You Have Sewage Overflow

svensblockeddrains team on site

If you’re unfortunate enough to be experiencing a sewage overflow in your garden, don’t panic. At Sven’s Blocked Drains, we specialise in blocked sewer drains, and are proud to provide our emergency blocked drain service in Melbourne at any time, any day of the week.
Get in touch using our online booking form, or for a faster response, call us on 1300 3 DRAIN (1300 337 226), and we’ll do our best to come out to your property ASAP. Our team has trained extensively on the best methods to clean and repair blocked sewage drains–trust us next time you have overflow in your garden, and you won’t be disappointed!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Google Rating
5.0
Based on 203 reviews
×
js_loader
Scroll to Top