What are the Most Common Reasons Behind Sewer Backups?

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The sewage system is supposed to remove waste and wastewater out of your home and into the sewage treatment facility. When that same sewer system begins to push waste and wastewater back up and into your bathroom, that’s a huge problem. Up next, we are going to take a quick look through some of the most common reasons why sewer backups happen, what kind of risks such a malfunction may pose, and how to prevent them.

Blockage is Always the Cause

Rest assured that as long as there is a sewer backup., the sewer line has one or more blocks. There are several possible reasons as to why a sewer might be blocked of course, but a blockage is universally the core reason why sewers start spewing wastewater back up. What might be blocking your sewer may vary depending on crucial factors such as location, installation quality, and the frequency of sewer inspections.

Tree Roots Penetrate and Block Sewer Lines

Tree roots are always looking for water and a firmer grip inside the ground. Older, bigger trees have extremely powerful and heavy root systems that will crack, break, and even crush the sewer pipes. It’s a long process though, which is why the pipes will develop cracks first. As sewage starts leaking from those cracks and breaks, you will smell it in your garden or the yard well before your toilets start pushing waste back up.

Given enough time, the roots will completely block and damage the sewer pipes, allowing pressure to build up, which will inevitably lead to a sewer backup. This is completely avoidable with regular inspections and necessary maintenance work. Just contact Beehive Plumbing for a sewer inspection and they will guide you on how to proceed.

Mainline Blockage

If multiple homes in your neighborhood are also experiencing the effects of backed up wastewater, then it could signify a much bigger problem. Generally, this happens when the municipal mainline is all clogged up somewhere and the authorities in charge have not been particularly thorough with their regular sewer inspections and cleanups.

Contact a local plumber to find out what the problem is first. If they confirm it as a municipal blockage, then you will need to inform your local municipality at the earliest. Even though the plumber cannot clean a mainline blockage without municipal permission, they will still be able to offer temporary solutions.

Mud Blocks

Mud blocks can cause sewer backups, but it mostly depends on your location and how much it rains there. In locations where it rains a lot, heavy downpours turn soil into mud. If there are cracks on the sewer pipes, that mud will get inside and over time, create a mud block. Mud blocks are fairly easy to clean, provided that you call for an inspection early on. Like most things, given enough time and a few dry spells, mud can harden and turn into a real nuisance.

Finally, if you are wondering how bad the effects of a sewer backup can be, then you have probably not faced one yet! In addition to the horrible smell, wastewater will start flooding your home soon after. Sewage water and sludge is almost always contaminated with several species of bacterial and parasitic lifeforms, including but not limited to salmonella, shigella, E. coli, streptococcus, pseudomonas aeruginosa, giardia lamblia, coxsackie, mycobacterium, adenovirus, hookworms, and tapeworms to name just a few.