Hi All

I have a bathroom with a bath, two sinks and a WC. When I run either
sink for any length of time water starts coming up through the plug
hole in the bath! Happily this does not happen when the WC is flushed
- though the WC is immediately next to the soil downpipe and connects
directly into it. Eventually the water which enters the bath does
drain away.

My conclusion from this is that there is a partial blockage in the
underfloor pipe which leads to the soil downpipe after the place where
the closest (to the downpipe) sink joins that pipe. Thus water runs
out of the sinks, hits the block and backs up into the bath (which is
the path of least resistance as it is lower than the sinks). Having
looked at the posts to this group, it seems that I should put a
quantity of diluted caustic soda down the sink in question with a view
to it disolving the blockage. Does that sound correct?

Many thanks for any help.

Chris

On 21 Jan 2005 05:10:55 -0800, (Chris Davies) wrote:

Having
looked at the posts to this group, it seems that I should put a
quantity of diluted caustic soda down the sink in question with a view
to it disolving the blockage. Does that sound correct?

Maybe. Caustic soda is good on fats in kitchen sinks. For hairballs,
conc. sulphuric acid drain cleaners may work better.

I've also recently seen, but not yet used, some US product that
claimed to be an enzyme good at removing these partial slow-flow
blockages. The caustics are good at a real "bung", but they may flow
past something that's merely a narrowing.

Maybe. Caustic soda is good on fats in kitchen sinks. For hairballs,
conc. sulphuric acid drain cleaners may work better.

Handy tip. I'll try that if I ever start suffering from furballs.

Caustic is much more effective when used boiling hot, but its not safe
stuff. One drop in an eye and youve really got problems, its worse than
acid.


NT