Eigenvector wrote:
My bath drain, drains very slowly. It doesn't appear to be clogged with
hair and it drains into a septic tank. No other drain seems to have a
problem. However I was wondering if the way the previous owner routed the
drain lines might be the source of the issue.

http://photos.imageevent.com/eigenve...e/P9160042.JPG

Shows the drain. There are two obvious things that make me wonder. One, as
you can see there is a wierd PVC joint right above the transition to the
galvanized pipe - almost like they necked it down, you can see all the green
joint compound. The other is the absolute horizontal pipe that runs from
the tub drain to the PVC "T" junction. Could this be the source of my slow
drain? I presume the vertical PVC pipe section is for the tub overflow
drain - it doesn't go anywhere else and it isn't a vent so far as I can
tell.

A couple of questions, if I were to snake the tub drain, would the trap
cause problems
Second, if I were to redesign the tub drain, how do I deal with the sewer?
I presume that there is basically raw sewage all the way to the top of the
tub drain "U" trap. Should I crack out the NBC suit and call in the EPA or
are there alternatives to dealing with the sewer line?

BTW: I finally cleaned out the bulk of the spiders in that corner, as you
can see its relatively clean now. The webs back there made the opening
scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark look like Martha Stewart dusting cobwebs.

Second, if I were to redesign the tub drain, how do I deal with the sewer?
I presume that there is basically raw sewage all the way to the top of
the
tub drain "U" trap. Should I crack out the NBC suit and call in the
EPA or
are there alternatives to dealing with the sewer line?


chill out......the "raw sewage" of which you are concerned is really
just "grey water".....shower / bath drain water. The trap stays wet
from use but the rest of the drain plumbing is empty .....everything
just drains away....not supposed to have standing water anywhere except
in the trap

Even "black water" is mostly water....esp after a few flushes of water
only. Changing diapers is worse than either one.....

per the other replies, the trap & galv lines might be the problem. I'd
Sawzall out everything from the new plastic tub /shower stuff to the
iron T & replace it with new plastic parts. If the old metal parts
are corroded & clogged...you fixed it!

If not, the problems further downstream (but I doubt it).

I had an upstairs shower back up into a downstairs sink (shared
downstream line). I pulled the downstairs pedestal sink away from the
way & snaked the common line from there......a week later no problems.

Usually a simple fix solves the problem.

cheers
Bob