All households experience clogged drains. When the toilet backs up or the kitchen sink won’t release water, the first instinct is to use a plunger. When that fails, many people reach for a bottle of liquid drain cleaner. But plumbers in Redmond, Oregon, want people to stop using chemical drain cleaners, and here’s why.
Chemical Drain Cleaners Are Corrosive
The chemicals in liquid drain cleaners eat away at the clumps of waste and other debris inside pipes. They dissolve the debris so water can pass through, right? But what are those chemicals doing to the pipes?
Over time, the chemicals in these cleaners begin to eat away at the interior of the pipes and weaken them. The pipe walls thin out and become more likely to leak, resulting in water damage and pipe replacement.
Chemical Drain Cleaners Can’t Address All Problems
Sometimes, what presents as a clog is something entirely different—something drain cleaners can’t fix. The types of problems plumbers are talking about are sewer issues, such as a collapsed sewer pipe, a cracked pipe, or a misaligned pipe. Damaged sewer pipes can cause toilets and sinks to back up, but the solution isn’t to drain cleaning products. Plumbers need to fix the sewer problem through traditional or trenchless sewer repair.
How does one know the difference between a run-of-the-mill clog and a sewer problem? Plumbers in Redmond, Oregon, recommend calling for plumbing service when plunging doesn’t relieve the clog instead of using chemical drain cleaning solutions. To schedule a plumbing service, contact Ponderosa Heating & Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical now.
