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Sewer 101: Why Raking The Lawn This Fall is Vital Cleaning

Autumn's Beautifully Falling Leaves Can Make a Disaster!

Fall has finally arrived, bringing the promise of crisp fresh air, relief from the summer heatwave, and spectacular fall foliage. While it’s important to enjoy the fall colors, it’s vital to make raking the lawn part of your to-do list, since not raking the leaves can sometimes cause dire problems for your home’s plumbing.

Why Sewer Systems Are Vital

sewer systemHuman waste can cause different diseases and illnesses, so it’s important the sewage is disposed of properly. Thankful, over the past centuries, human waste disposal has come a long way. While some countries still have challenges like outhouses or throwing toilet paper in the trash, in the United States there are fully modern plumbing systems to help minimize exposure to dangerous human waste.

Your home has pipes connecting all your appliances and fixtures to a water source, and then all the water you use in the home needs to exit through somewhere. Cue in the main drain line, which connects your home’s pipe system to the city’s underground sewer pipes. City sewer pipes are run by gravity and sometimes pumps that process the waste from homes to the city’s waste treatment facility.

There, solid matter is strained from the rest of the liquid for proper disposal, and the liquid is treated thoroughly to remove disease-causing bacteria so that the treated water can be returned to a natural body of water, such as a river, without harming people or animals.

Know the Warning Signs of a Main Drain Clog

At some point in your life, you’ve experienced a clogged toilet or a clogged drain in the house. While this is annoying, it’s likely that it was easily fixed by cleaning out your drain or plunging your toilet to remove a temporary blockage. The pain point was in one particular pipe leading to one particular part of your house, and fixing that blockage meant everything went back to normal, after all, there are many other processes that happen after you flush

main drain line

There are some clogs that are more serious than that, particularly a clog in the main drain. Since all your water and waste needs to leave your home, the main drain must be clear of blockages for things to run smoothly. If your main drain gets a severe clog in it, then your entire home will be impacted. Your home will begin communicating problems with you by widespread gurgling noises and bubbling water/bubbling sounds. There may be an unpleasant stench coming up out of your drains.

Sewage Nightmares

sewageIf you don’t take care of the main drain clog, then it’s possible for raw sewage to eventually start coming up out of your drains. This is not only disgusting, but it also means an expensive fix and health risks that are preventable! Many people want to replace things that sewage has touched, for example, if sewage got high enough to get on the floor or kitchen counter.

Raw sewage is a health risk since it can spread diseases like Hepatitis A, can carry parasites like hookworms, and can carry illness-inducing bacteria like E. Coli and salmonella. If you don’t want your bathtub or shower filled with brown raw sewage, then treating a main drain clog as soon as you see warning signs is absolutely essential.

If you hate raking leaves or paying a neighbor kid to rake leaves, hopefully, this article will convince you to take care of those fall leaves more often. Remember, as soon as you see warning signs of a clogged sewer main, be sure to consult with a professional to avoid larger plumbing fees and unpleasant surprises.

About NixCo Plumbing Inc.

Since 1978, NixCo Plumbing Inc. has served countless individuals in Mason and Cincinnati for all sorts of residential, municipal, and commercial plumbing jobs. It is a family-run business that offers same-day service whenever possible. They are dedicated to great customer service, professional work, and assessing the home’s entire situation so that you know your plumber is seeing the big picture.