What Causes a Sewer Backup?

Sewer backups can happen when an obstruction prevents wastewater from completely flowing through your home’s lateral sanitary line – the path that connects your property’s sewer system to the municipal sewer. Wastewater accumulates inside your home’s sewer line, until overflow occurs and the wastewater won’t drain.

What types of obstructions may be responsible for a backup?

Clogged Pipes

Perhaps the most common for homeowners, a solid or hard-to-penetrate substance builds up in your sewer pipes. In many cases, the homeowner has poured fats or coffee grounds down the kitchen sink drain, allowed hair or soap residue to accumulate in a shower drain or flushed something too large for the toilet.

In this scenario, not all backups are equal. In certain cases, having a blocked sink might mean the water drains slowly or comes back up through another pipe. A more worrisome scenario, a toilet may get flushed and the wastewater comes up through a sink or bathtub. This indicates the main sewer line is experiencing a backup and could affect the rest of your home’s pipes.

Better disposal habits are key to avoiding clogged pipes:

• Only flush toilet paper – no diapers, wet wipes, paper towels or hygiene products.
• Prevent hair from clogging the shower pipes by adding a mesh trap over the drain.
• Watch what you put down the kitchen sink. Greasy or fatty substances can harden inside your pipes and become difficult to eliminate.
• Only small food waste should enter a garbage disposal.

Tree Roots

That tree in your or the neighbor’s yard might be the cause of all your sewer issues. Especially if your property has older clay pipes:

• Roots can grow into the pipes and block wastewater from flowing through.
• A root can grow around the pipe and strangle it, cutting it off completely.

In all cases, your only solution is to cut out the root and repair your pipe. Older homes are more susceptible to tree root blockages than newer properties using plastic or PVC pipes.

The problem may also show up sooner than you think: If you flush the toilet and hear a gurgling sound after, tree roots might be affecting how well wastewater flows through to the municipal sewer line.

Collapsed or Damaged Pipes

Several factors other than tree roots can come into play. Old or deteriorating pipes are more susceptible to outside forces and may eventually crack, collapse, rust or break, so the wastewater can’t flow completely through or hits an obstruction. Although all pipes may experience damage, clay, cast iron and Orangeburg are more prone than newer plastic-based pipes.

Gutters, Downspouts, Sump Pumps

All three of these items may be connected to a sewer line. Storm sewers are standard but sanitary lines, designed to handle a lower volume of wastewater, pose some risks, especially after a heavy rainfall or snowmelt. As a result, keep all gutters and downspouts clean to eliminate possible obstructions and consider rerouting where the sump pump flows.

The Municipal Sewer

Your pipes might be perfectly fine and instead, the municipal sewer is the source of the problem and the backup is out of your control. Handling a significantly greater amount of wastewater, municipal sewers receive everything from all neighboring properties and cracks, deterioration and accumulations may prevent everything from flowing down and away. In your home, a municipal sewer backup generally shows up in your basement’s drainage first.

High Rainfall

Certain weather conditions, coupled with an aging municipal sewer line, is the perfect recipe for an overflow. Especially when heavy rains last multiple days, the amount of water might be too much to handle. As a result, homeowners will see the wastewater flowing back up through their pipes, until the city or town finds a way to address the greater volume of water.
 
Although over-the-counter methods promise a quick fix, certain issues require the work of a skilled professional. Before the backup becomes too much to handle, have M.J. Fahy & Sons assess and fix your home’s pipes. To begin, contact us today to set up an appointment.