Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT

wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT

Does it float? If so, fat. The rice grains suggest fat from Chinese,
Indian, risotto or rice pudding. :-)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though.

Almost certainly fat. I'm a lot more careful about not putting fat done our
drains since the one that takes water from our kitchen sink was dug up
during building work.

This is what we found. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/yuck.jpg. As
you can see, almost completely blocked except along one side.

Tim

wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?

My MIL has been using something called Aqueous Cream on her skin and it
gets into the bathwater. From what I can gather its a very thick
emulsion of paraffin and water.

A couple of times I've had to clear out blockages where the bathroom
downpipe and the kitchen sink outlets merge. I assume it separates out
as the drained water cools.

Not pleasant - but now I know to check every 18 months or so which
prevents backing up.

Tim Downie wrote:
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though.

Almost certainly fat. I'm a lot more careful about not putting fat
done our drains since the one that takes water from our kitchen sink
was dug up during building work.

This is what we found. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/yuck.jpg. As
you can see,
almost completely blocked except along one side.

Sounds like fat to me as well.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article , Tim Downie timdownie200
scribeth thus
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though.

Almost certainly fat. I'm a lot more careful about not putting fat done our
drains since the one that takes water from our kitchen sink was dug up
during building work.

This is what we found. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/yuck.jpg. As
you can see, almost completely blocked except along one side.

Tim





Urrrrgh!, think what thats doing to your arteries;!....
--
Tony Sayer

wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT

It's almost certainly fat.
Having unblocked masses of the stuff over the years from various drains and
manholes, and knowing the cost and amount of work involved in replacing
sections of drain that have needed breaking to remove such blockages, I
never put any animal fats down the drains, vegetable oils are usually OK
because they normally stay liquified, but drippings from cooking meat,
especially sausages, get's scraped into the bin once solidified or poured in
when only slightly warm.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

tony sayer wrote:


Urrrrgh!, think what thats doing to your arteries;!....

But that's the stuff that *isn't* in his arteries! (Unless he scoops it
out and ingests or injects it. :-( )

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

"Phil L" wrote in message
om...
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT

It's almost certainly fat.
Having unblocked masses of the stuff over the years from various drains
and manholes, and knowing the cost and amount of work involved in
replacing sections of drain that have needed breaking to remove such
blockages, I never put any animal fats down the drains, vegetable oils are
usually OK because they normally stay liquified, but drippings from
cooking meat, especially sausages, get's scraped into the bin once
solidified or poured in when only slightly warm.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

Phil

Any chance of some unblocking tips mate? I can be more specific about the
drains at my house if it helps.

Best rods, rodding from above or below (I know of one pitfall to avoid!),
getting the rods into the hole when it is under 5 feet of you know what,
clearing fat on a long run when 4 houses share the run.

Adam

ARWadsworth wrote:

Phil

Any chance of some unblocking tips mate? I can be more specific about
the drains at my house if it helps.

If you do a quick sketch and post it at tinypic, it'll be easier to
understand.
Show assumed drain runs, manholes and outline each property, with position
of stacks - forget rainwater and wastewater gullies.


Best rods, rodding from above or below (I know of one pitfall to
avoid!), getting the rods into the hole when it is under 5 feet of
you know what, clearing fat on a long run when 4 houses share the run.

Adam

if the stack(s) have rodding eyes, obviously it's better to do it from above
(as I found out aged 18 when a full stack of fortnight old **** dropped into
a manhole I was rodding, needless to say, it went up in the air about 8
feet, and from that day to this I've never looked at sweetcorn in the same
way) but if push comes to shove, you may need to do it from below, sou'
wester on standby.


--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

"Phil L" wrote in message
om...
ARWadsworth wrote:

Phil

Any chance of some unblocking tips mate? I can be more specific about
the drains at my house if it helps.

If you do a quick sketch and post it at tinypic, it'll be easier to
understand.
Show assumed drain runs, manholes and outline each property, with position
of stacks - forget rainwater and wastewater gullies.


Best rods, rodding from above or below (I know of one pitfall to
avoid!), getting the rods into the hole when it is under 5 feet of
you know what, clearing fat on a long run when 4 houses share the run.

Adam

if the stack(s) have rodding eyes, obviously it's better to do it from
above (as I found out aged 18 when a full stack of fortnight old ****
dropped into a manhole I was rodding, needless to say, it went up in the
air about 8 feet, and from that day to this I've never looked at sweetcorn
in the same way) but if push comes to shove, you may need to do it from
below, sou' wester on standby.


--
Phil L

Cheers

I will tinypic you the insides of the various manhole covers involved after
Thursday (I am not at home until then) along with any diagrams of any known
drainage runs that I know of.

You can actually climb down the manhole at the house below me (this manhole
is the one below my blockage) and there are two "inputs" into it. It takes
two of us to lift the cover.

Adam

Tim Downie wrote:
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though.

Almost certainly fat. I'm a lot more careful about not putting fat done our
drains since the one that takes water from our kitchen sink was dug up
during building work.

This is what we found. http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images/yuck.jpg. As
you can see, almost completely blocked except along one side.

Tim

That looks just like it. Thanks!


NT

wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT
probably partially emulsified oils and fats.

Bob Remeaux wrote:
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?

My MIL has been using something called Aqueous Cream on her skin and it
gets into the bathwater. From what I can gather its a very thick
emulsion of paraffin and water.

A couple of times I've had to clear out blockages where the bathroom
downpipe and the kitchen sink outlets merge. I assume it separates out
as the drained water cools.

Not pleasant - but now I know to check every 18 months or so which
prevents backing up.
bung a half tub of caustic and a few kettles of hot water down drains
every 6 months.

Cleans this sort of stuff well.

ARWadsworth wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message
om...
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT
It's almost certainly fat.
Having unblocked masses of the stuff over the years from various drains
and manholes, and knowing the cost and amount of work involved in
replacing sections of drain that have needed breaking to remove such
blockages, I never put any animal fats down the drains, vegetable oils are
usually OK because they normally stay liquified, but drippings from
cooking meat, especially sausages, get's scraped into the bin once
solidified or poured in when only slightly warm.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

Phil

Any chance of some unblocking tips mate? I can be more specific about the
drains at my house if it helps.

Best rods, rodding from above or below (I know of one pitfall to avoid!),
getting the rods into the hole when it is under 5 feet of you know what,
clearing fat on a long run when 4 houses share the run.

Adam


If you're on a shared drain, it's usually the water company's
responsibility, certainly if the house is pre 1930. In our area Thames
Water come within 4 hours, and there's no charge

In message ,
ARWadsworth writes

"Phil L" wrote in message
. com...
wrote:
Had fun shoulder deep in blocked drains today, but what I fished out
puzzled me a bit. The pipes were caked to blocking point with a soft
white solid. I cant work out what it is though. There were a few rice
grains floating about, so perhaps a block of congealed rice? Also
wondered about solidified washing powder, but I would have thought
that would wash through, being water soluble.

Any ideas?


NT

It's almost certainly fat.
Having unblocked masses of the stuff over the years from various drains
and manholes, and knowing the cost and amount of work involved in
replacing sections of drain that have needed breaking to remove such
blockages, I never put any animal fats down the drains, vegetable oils are
usually OK because they normally stay liquified, but drippings from
cooking meat, especially sausages, get's scraped into the bin once
solidified or poured in when only slightly warm.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

Phil

Any chance of some unblocking tips mate? I can be more specific about the
drains at my house if it helps.

Best rods, rodding from above or below (I know of one pitfall to avoid!),
getting the rods into the hole when it is under 5 feet of you know what,
clearing fat on a long run when 4 houses share the run.


I had the problem of our drains being blocked by fat (from previous
owners, must have built up over years given the amount that came out)

It was in an awkward position down stream from a trap after a 90 degree
bend, about 7-8 meters upstream from the manhole. Acess with rods didn't
work as they got stuck at an junction partway along.

I bought a drain cleaning attachment for my Karcher pressure washer. Not
cheap (esp as I bought it in a shed), but it did the job, and has been
used a couple more times to clean other bits of drain.

e.g.

http://www.espares.co.uk/product.aspx?ma=877&id=547362
--
Chris French