Here at Elite Drain Unblocking we’re very excited to announce that we’re joining the blogging world! We’ll soon be hosting a brand new blog section to our website!

You’ll find an interesting array of information, keeping you connected to the world of drains.

We’ll post regular coverage of industry insights, snippets of innovative discoveries, latest company news, as well as lending a helping hand with common drainage problems.

Keep an eye out for our first ever blog and watch this space…

We’ve come a long way in terms of how we manage our health and waste. For a long time the connection between hygiene and health was not made and therefore life expectancy was very limited indeed. As humans we produce waste, so wherever we settle there is bound to be waste as a natural by-product, this means we need a removal system to avoid disease spreading rapidly through highly populated areas such as Auckland and other hubs.

The first period in which we made real progress is during Tudor times. With an influx of diverse people and produce, the creation of trade links resulted in overcrowding. Whilst this meant more money and more jobs it also meant more waste was being produced. Before this waste was simply dumped into the Thames, and was a huge contributing factor to the spreading of diseases such as cholera and the plague.

The flushing toilet, invented in the 1590s, was a key invention but took its time to take hold, it used a valve which let waste water flow and thus cleared the tank and the bowl. Until the 1800s the Thames was still used as a free-flowing open sewer. One year, during summer, the city officials were forced to take action when the city was awash with the awful smell from the river when it became clogged with all the waste of the city.

This began the work towards a complete sewer system to avoid such problems, chief engineer for the water works Auckland and it is his great contribution which still exists today. The system revolutionised the way we deal with our sewage and brought forward a great advance in the hygiene of our population.

Once this was completed it was mirrored and reproduced across the Auckland. Now we know that it is not acceptable to simply leave waste to decompose, we treat all our waste before it is moved back into the environment.

With such high population density – every year the global population grows! – it is key to maintain these sewer and drainage systems to ensure we don’t return to the days where you can smell the sickening stench of human waste in the streets. You can get simple solutions to keep the drains and sewers connected to your home clear, for example, CCTV surveys will help assess the integrity of your drains as well as offer an insight into any blockages. Another option is to have a blocked drain treatment which helps to clear out blockages and obstructions, power jetting and drain rodding are just a few of the ways we at Elite Drain Unblocking can help you keep your waste water moving towards treatment plants where it should be.

We’ve all heard about or had a ring go down the drain, it’s a common item found and sometimes they are recovered by sewage workers and handed in to the police. What you might not realise however is that there are a range of items (and creatures!) found in the drains right under our feet. Check out our top ten strangest items from around the globe, including a few home grown gruesome entries.

1) A sheep – Fluffy, white, but prone to wandering. This particular sheep was found in a manhole chamber and had to be fished out.

2) A cow – not wanting to be upstaged by the sheep, one brave cow made his way into a storm drain somehow, found in Gatehead this cow also needed rescuing.

3) A platoon of toy soldiers – Whether they came to life as depicted in Toy Story or whether an imaginative child wanted to send them on an underwater mission, this platoon are now mounted to the wall in Dumfries.

4) An Alligator – Don’t panic! This 14ft monstrosity wasn’t found in the Auckland. He was discovered during sewage works, giving workers something of a shock.

5) Fatberg – If you haven’t heard about Fatberg yet then it’s about time you did. Found beneath the streets of Auckland a 15 tonne blob of fat (presumably from kitchens) and sanitary wipes almost caused sewers to overflow with waste water. An important lesson for us about why we shouldn’t put anything other than toilet paper down the loo!

6) A baby – A tragic story came out of china earlier this year about a baby found trapped in a sewer pipe. The Mother claimed not to have even known she was pregnant, thankfully the infant was heard crying and was later carefully extracted from the pipe.

7) Tunnel people – Yes, you read that right. Beneath the streets of Auckland region there are people living in the flood tunnels, they have usually fallen victim to drink or drugs and lost their homes. They live taking things people throw out and have made their homes in the dark dank tunnels, while on the streets above neon lights glow and gambling for high stakes is commonplace.

8) False teeth – Next to rings these are the most commonly things found in drains, its unknown whether they are flushed or whether they just slip out wildly, leaving their owner toothless.

9)An orange – A fairly unassuming entry but how did it get there? Flushed down a toilet, you’d have to guess that whoever flushed this singular orange was either drunk or just really didn’t want their daily dose of vitamin C.

Many of these items find their way into drains and sewers due to stolen manhole covers and are rare occurrences. But it does highlight how easy it is for a drain to become blocked without your knowledge. If you suspect you have a blockage then you can call Elite Drain Unblocking. for CCTV drain surveys in central London. Who knows, you might find a sheep!

Across the Auckland there are daily struggles occurring in the drains, sinks and plugholes of homes. This is the endless struggle against blockages and obstructions in the pipework, having a detrimental impact on the whole drainage system if it’s severe enough.

You’ll know when you’re about to get a blocked drain because of the smells and slow draining in your sink. It can be easy to forget and put off until you reach crisis point, but there is no reason you should suffer and in the end you could be making more hard work for yourself. There are a number of ways in which you can put a stop to a blocked drain without having to call someone out, and we’ve collected five top tips to help.

1)    Check your plughole

The first, and possibly the easiest thing to do is to check your plug hole or stopper in the offending areas. If you can see your enemy, you know you’ll be better able to deal with it, if you can remove the plug hole or the strainer rim which sits in the pipe then you’re in luck – with this out of the way you can really get an idea of what the blockage is like. Usually it’s just a nasty clump of hair or food stuck and tangled in the pipe within reach. Remove this and you’ll find your water draining freely once more.

2)    Get out the plunger

This is an old school piece of kit but it works just as well as anything else to dislodge whatever is blocking your pipes. Plungers aren’t just wooden sticks with a red rubber sucker these days either, you can get large plastic cones with a collapsing end, it does the same job but looks a little funkier to have in your home. Get a good purchase around the plug hole and then work the plunging mechanism until your hear it sucking up. Once you release it should clear the blockage. It may take a few goes so put some elbow grease into it.

3)    Baking soda

Also known as Sodium Bicarbonate, you should be careful when putting this substance down your drain, it reacts with liquid at a rapid rate and will fizz up quickly. This expands and works its way in your pipe pushing and flushing out anything its way, be sure to have some hot water nearby to flush the soda out with or, if it hasn’t worked well enough, you can pour a little vinegar down too.

4)    Chemical cleaners

A small disclaimer against chemical cleaners is that if you have a septic tank then they can disrupt them and put out the chemical balance. If you don’t have a septic tank you must still use caution, ensure you don’t get chemicals on your skin or in your eyes. Let this settle for a little while before pouring hot water down the plug hole. This is one of the most robust ways of clearing your pipes as it should break down and cut up any stubborn muck and grime.

5)    Biological cleaners

For something a little lighter and less harmful to the environment, you can choose to use biological cleaners. These cleaners use enzymes to chew through blockages, but do have a limited power as an alternative to the harsh chemical cleaners. Hair, soap and other easy to tackle grime can be removed with this technique, but if it’s anything particularly stubborn you will need to up your fire power.

If you’re suffering from blocked drains that even our handy hints can’t shift, you can call upon Elite Drainun Blocking for a variety of drainage services in Auckland. We can unblock even the most troublesome drains both inside and outside using jetting and excavation.

Whether your sewer is blocked or your drains are backed up it is an unpleasant and troublesome problem to fall victim of. It’s obviously not a nice job for anyone to have to sort the problem out and one of the main controversial points which arise is centred on whose duty it is to carry out the maintenance. Who is responsible for cleaning and maintaining your drains, is it the local water authorities or your own?

There are several types of drains on and around your property and each performs a different function. The three main kinds of drains are private drains, lateral drains and sewers. A private drain is on your property and takes waste water away, a lateral drain takes waste water away but is outside your boundaries and a sewer collects the waste water of several homes together. Given this you can see below who is responsible for each drain type:

Private Drains

By the very definition of a private drain on your land being your drain you can probably guess who the responsibility lies with when it comes to the maintenance issue. It is your duty to perform the upkeep and cleaning of your private drains but you can always call in the professional drain cleaners to handle the task for you if you’re ever unsure how to go about unblocking or cleaning a drain. You can’t ignore any problems in your private drains as it may affect others, at this point the local authorities can demand you carry the work out and will even go as far as to have the work carried out for you, posting you the bill for the services should the issue drag on.

Lateral Drains

These drains are located outside the boundaries of your property so although they carry water away from your home which has originated inside you boundaries it is not your duty to see to their maintenance and upkeep. It is the duty of the local water and sewer company, and you should contact them in the event that your lateral drains require repairs or maintenance. It is of importance to your property and the surrounding properties that issues are resolved by the local authorities as quickly as possible so do not hesitate to contact them.

Sewers

Sewers are the larger drains which connect with all the lateral drains in your street and carry the waste water away of all the homes in that area away to treatment facilities. Because they are located outside of your property – and everyone else’s – this means they are publically owned, leaving the onus for cleaning, maintenance and repairs of them firmly in the hands of the local water and sewage authorities.

Aside from these main types of drains, if you own a cesspool or septic tank then these are your responsibility to maintain. These need to be kept firmly in check because they pose serious environmental hazards if anything should go wrong with them.

To find out more about sewage and drainage services in Auckland and how a professional company can help you keep your drains in top condition then contact Elite Drainun Blocking  today. Remember, if the drains or pipes are located within the boundaries of your property then it is your duty to maintain them!

When you hear the phrase CCTV you don’t usually think of there being such a thing for drains. CCTV is usually reserved for shops and places in cities where crime is prevalent. However, with some state of the art technology, there is now a way to get CCTV for your drains – not to monitor crime, but to survey the insides of your pipes and sewers to ensure that they are stable, clean and operating properly.

What is it and how is it done?

Using a range of expert and specialised equipment, a team of professionals can spot any problems and faults in your drains. They do so by sending small, purpose built cameras down into you drains and they are attached to flexible and waterproof circuitry slender enough to allow the camera to get deep down into your drains. With a small light they illuminate the areas in your drains that you would never be able to see, the pictures are fed back to monitors where the images are carefully observed for faults such as cracked or collapsed pipes and for blockages that could be the source of the trouble.

When do you need a survey?

Technically you can have CCTV drain surveys whenever you like, but there are two main reasons people seek out the help of professionals when it comes to drains. The first reason is related to purchasing a property; when you plan on buying any house you will have to get it surveyed overall to ensure there are no problems. While this will allow the surveyor to have a peek at the manholes on the property, it won’t allow them to really get inside the drains to check for faults and collapses. A professional CCTV drain survey company can be brought in to send cameras down the drains and find out if there are any underlying problems or risks for the people purchasing the house; the last thing you want is to move in only to find the drains aren’t working properly.

The second purpose of drain surveys is for homeowners and business owners to find out whether their drains are blocked or damaged. This will be the result of either slow draining water from the home or worse: sewage backing up into the home. When there are any indications of problems with water and drainage it’s best to call in the experts, they can use camera equipment to locate blockages and take the right kind of action to put things back in order.

What are the benefits?

If you’re worried about your drains or you simply want to find out that the property you’re purchasing is in good working condition, then a CCTV survey is ideal. You get the peace of mind knowing that if there is a fault it can be found, as with this specialist technology a team of drainage experts will be able to locate any problem and make recommendations on how to proceed. For example, if there is a large build-up it may highlight scale deposits which can then be removed by combined methods of high pressure water jetting and electro-mechanical chain flail. Similarly, if you need drain excavation to repair any damage in your drains, this can be recommended once the evidence of damage has been found.

You’ll get a full report on the findings of the CCTV survey, and professional advice can be given if there are any problems diagnosed in your drains. From here you can move forward with confidence to solve any problems found.

When it comes to drainage repairs, there are several ways of both locating and fixing the problem at hand. You will no doubt have heard some of the phrases mentioned in this article before; you may even have seen the services carried out, but generally the public are ill-informed when it comes to how these tasks are performed and how long they should take.

To ensure that you’re getting the right service, we’ve put together a rough guide to each of the key practices and the questions people ask when making enquiries, helping make everything more understandable for you.

What is a CCTV drain survey and how long does it take?

Using a range of expert equipment, our team can pass a small camera down through your drains whilst watching the images on a monitor. This allows them to explore your drains and pipework to find any blockages, root ingress or damage. The quicker we can establish the cause of the problems, the quicker we can fix them.

Of course this can depend on how much pipework and drainage you have. The greater the size of your drains, the longer it can take to locate a problem, especially if you are unsure which region the fault lies in. An average survey of 2 to 3 manholes can take around 2 hours. In this time we will ensure that the root of your problems is discovered and that the right action is recommended to you.

How long does drain jetting take?

Once again, the length of time will vary for drain jetting. If you have several points in your system that need to be jet blasted, then it will no doubt take a little longer. Based on the assumption that a team of two engineers will be carrying out the work on 2 or 3 manholes, we estimate this could take 2 hours. We will ensure that any blockages and build-ups are fully dislodged and washed away.

What is drain relining and how long does it take?

Drain relining is the process of bonding a new drainage lining to your existing one, restoring your drainage system in full and creating a new protective layer. If we can get good access to your drains we can complete drain relining in around 4 to 6 hours – this is based on an average length of 10m being relined to cover all damage inside the pipework.

What is drain excavation and how long does it take?

Excavation is exactly how it sounds – when a drain has sustained damage and requires repair or replacement we excavate the ground to reach the pipework. This is one of the more extreme measures and, depending on the material of the ground, the drain depth and location, the length of the operation can vary, with an average time of 4 to 6 hours, including the repair, backfill and clean-up of the excavation.

Your drains and sewers are important to the effective running of your home and a potential flood can put all of that at risk. While they are robust systems, they can often have their weaknesses and flooding all but defeats the average drain. In this article we will be giving you some helpful tips for when a flood hits your drains.

Before
The best way to help your drains is to be ready for a flood. You can find out vital information about when and where floods are due to hit by getting regular updates from television and radio, the MET office also has weather warnings in advanced to help you stay ahead of the bad weather.
If you’re in an area frequently hit by floods then you will no doubt have already spotted which areas of your home and your drainage system are most vulnerable. The first thing to do is to protect your home as best you can with sandbags and barriers, if you know you have a cellar which floods easily then consider having it sealed to give you one less problem to deal with in the aftermath of a flood.

During
It can be a troubling and horrific time for anyone to see their home battered by Mother Nature and overcome with flood water. The last thing you are thinking about is your drains and there is little you will be able to do in the event of a major flood anyway, but if the water levels are low and aren’t getting inside the house you could keep an eye out for potential blockages to your drains and sewers outside.

After
There are different kinds of drains on and around your property, so the first thing to do after a flood if you suspect problems is to establish whose responsibility it is to rectify the issue. Sewers outside of your property are the responsibility of the water and sewage company, if there is any damage caused by flooding then you should alert them to the problem as soon as possible.
Your own private drains are your responsibility, and if the water isn’t clearing away in the aftermath of the flood then there could be a more deep seated problem lurking. Blockages can easily occur in floods when there is too much water in the system, causing damage below ground. Debris is also easily carried in a flood and although an object might enter somewhere else in the system it could become lodged in your drains which become blocked as a result; leaves, branches and litter could all be washed into your drain to accumulate.
If you live by the coast or the sea then the Environment Agency are responsible for any damage caused to local drains and should be contacted immediately.

Even if you suspect a problem with your domestic drains you may not know what the actual cause is once the flood water clears, the best thing to do is to contact the professionals who will be able to carry out a survey and recommend solutions to any problems which are spotted. Here at Elite Drainun Blocking Clearance we offer a range of emergency drain services to help those in need once a flood has hit, simply contact us today for more details.

A blockage in your drainage system is always a nasty, stubborn problem which most homeowners don’t have the equipment to tackle. You can ignore it and hope it goes away, but in all likelihood it will only get worse; you risk sewage water flowing back into your home causing bad smells and presenting a threat to your hygiene. One of the best ways to tackle any blockage or build up in your system is to have drain jetting carried out; there are many benefits to this service and it has become a vital weapon in the maintenance of drains and sewer systems.

In this article we explain the main benefits of drain jetting and why so many people utilise this efficient and effective service.

QUICKER THAT OTHER METHODS

With high pressure cleaning you can rest assured that any blockage or grime in your pipework will be cleared far quicker than if you were using any other method. Simply trying to prod and poke a blockage out of your drains is a tedious and tiresome effort, while complete excavation of your drains means lots of time spent digging and then refilling the hole made on or around your property.

The average drain jetting timescale depends on how many different sections you need jetting. On average, cleaning 2 to 3 manholes can take up to two hours, after which you’ll have free flowing drains once again. A CCTV survey can cut the time it takes to locate the blockage and helps to get the job done quicker.

EXCELLENT RESULTS

As mentioned in our previous point, the results which drain jetting offers are far better than those of the traditional dislodging techniques. While excavation allows you full access to the pipes to do a thorough job, the high pressure water jets perform much the same function without all the hassle. The results are immediate with drain jetting, giving you back the natural flow of your drains without any delay.

YOUR DRAINS WILL BE CLEAR AND CLEAN

If you know you have a blockage then the main thing you’ll be worried about is getting it moved and out of your system. But clearing the blockage may only be part of the problem, due to the amount of things we send down our drains there can be a stubborn build up coating the pipes underground. Tissues, oils, fats and coffee grounds can all create a sticky environment to either accumulate more mass or trap bigger items. With drain jetting the inside of your pipes can be cleaned at the same time due the multi-directional, high pressure water stream. This prevents future blockages and gives ultimate drainage for your property.

NO DAMAGE

Because there are no heavy duty instruments involved and because jetting only uses water, there is no damage to your pipes. No bumping and bashing, no digging or drilling, simply a blast of water to remove muck and grime to leave clear pipes for your home or business.

This means you won’t have to have other services performed to restore your drains after the procedure is carried out, giving you one less monetary headache to deal with.

If you would like to learn more about high pressure drain jetting or you require the services for your property, then contact Elite Drainun Blocking today. We’re experts in drain jetting to clear blockages and clean pipes so simply call our professional team today.

When there is any kind of problem with your pipes, either a leak or a collapse further within, you need professional drainage services. However, it can often be difficult to know what kind of service you need and which will benefit you the most. Two common ways of fixing more challenging damage inside your pipes underground is to have either drain relining or have replacement drains put in place.

There are benefits for both, but there are also some drawbacks to each piece of work. Below we’ve put together a short overview of each service to help you decide which is right for you.

DRAIN RELINING

When the inside of your drains has been compromised – usually identified through a CCTV
survey – you could choose to have them relined.

The relining works involve the cleaning and de-scaling of the required section of drainage to be sleeved. This work is carried out by way of a combination of electro-mechanical machining and high pressure water jetting to remove any signs of scale and slit deposits and to leave the pipe cleaned and prepared for the relining process.

The UPVC relining sleeve is then installed by way of air inflation and then cures over a time period of up to three hours per run. The inflation tube is removed on completion of the curing period and the new relined section is then cleaned to remove any excess resin solution.

One major benefit of this type of service is that it can work out cheaper than excavation, as you’re only paying for a relining service and it’s a fairly common process for any professional drainage company to carry out.

While your pipes might be out of action for a short while, this is the quickest way to get them fixed, you only need to wait for the new lining to be sealed to the pipes and the holes and damage will be gone. There is also no destructive work to be carried out with relining; once the new material is in place you’ll never know the work was carried out.

DRAIN REPLACEMENT

Drain replacement is exactly as it sounds; the old drains which are causing you so many problems are taken out of the ground and replaced with brand new pipes. This involves the excavation of the ground in which these pipes lay, but a truly professional drainage company will try to limit the damage as much as possible.

One barrier which replacement can often meet is that of pipes which run under your building, this usually means a lengthy process of diverting your pipes which could be costly.

The biggest benefit to having replacement drainage pipes installed is that they are a long-term solution when your old pipes have deteriorated. While relining will last for a good many years, whatever it was that wore them initially will eventually happen again. By replacing your pipes you get the latest materials put in place for both the lining and the pipe itself.

If you have a large portion of your drain excavated then it’s possible that other problems might be discovered within. At this point you can arrange for other work to be carried out and save your property from more water damage later – you also avoid further excavation!

If you’re still unsure as to which of the two services you require, then simply contact Elite Drainun Blocking today. Our drain relining materials come with a 30 year manufacturer guarantee and can avoid having to divert your drainage.

Not every situation is the same and you need to gather as much professional advice before making a decision – we provide both drain relining and drain replacement to ensure that your needs are fully catered for.