To Flush or Not to Flush?
Sewer pipes are designed to carry wastewater and dissolved solids. It is likely that the lateral that joins your residence or place of business to the sewer main is only 4 to 6 inches in diameter.
Your House Service Can't Handle Refuse
Trying to flush disposal diapers, clothing, dirt, gravel, plants, foodstuffs, foils, plastics, or other items that do not quickly dissolve in water will block the sewer lateral leaving your home or business. Your sewage will quickly fill up the distance between the blockage and your residence, and you will find sewage backing up into your basement, bathtub, toilet, or whichever is the lowest point connected to the sewer service lateral.
Even today's "flushable" wipes and sanitary products can block your service lateral if too many are flushed at once or if a clog of partially dissolved material obstructs the flow of water out of your residence or business. Whether you risk flushing such objects instead of disposing of them in other ways depends on how willing you are to pay a plumber or sewer rodder to remove the obstruction if they become caught.
Tree Roots Cause Problems
When trees grow over or too near the house service lateral, tree roots reaching for water will break through the house service lateral and continue to grow. A clump of roots that even patially obscures the service lateral can be the beginning of a clog when toilet paper or wipes that would otherwise slip through the pipe freely get caught up in the roots and grow into a solid mass.
The first sign of such a problem is a sewer pipe that won't drain properly when clothes washers drain or dish washers empty. While smaller amounts of water still trickle through the mass, an onrush of more water at once is stopped and "bounces" back into the house or business.
No Grease
Grease that is liquid when you pour it into the drain from your frying pan quickly becomes a stiff, sticky, and insoluble lump inside the pipe. Grease should never be flushed or put down sink drains.
Your House Service Lateral - Your Responsibility
The lateral that joins your home or business to the public main is your private property.
If you flush unwisely, you will soon experience a blockage, perhaps with sewer water backing up into a basement or the lowest drain in your home or place of business.
Before you call a plumber, call us.
If you call us, we will check the public main, but in this case, the public main will be "running fine," indicating that the blockage is in your private line.
Call A Plumber
The only remedy is rodding out the service. It can be messy and costly, and is best avoided by not flushing anything but sanitary waste.