How To Identify Roots In A Drainpipe

Your home plumbing is a technical and complex part of your home. For older homes especially, your incoming water pipes and outgoing waste pipes can fall victim to the environmental factors that play out in your yard. After years of changing weather, such as heavy seasonal rain and drought, your pipes undergo physical strains as the earth surrounding them shifts. From this shifting, breaks can occur. While these are more obvious on water pipes if you know what to look for, cracks in your wastewater pipes can exist much longer without detection. This will lead to leaks that attract tree roots as the wastewater is ideal for plants, full of nutrients and providing the water that a drought can leave them wanting.

If you have infrequent clogs at home, these are normal. Try conventional methods to clear your drain pipes or toilets before calling a plumber.

However, if your drains are regularly clogged, you will need to assess why and find a solution. You can look for the following signs of tree roots growing in your pipes.

Common Signs Of Tree Roots In Your Pipes

Old Waste Pipes

Does your house have old earthenware pipes under the ground? They are notorious for tree root penetrations and cracks. It might be time for an upgrade to modern PVC.

Slow Functioning Drains

Examples can be drains in your home taking longer to remove wastewater, sinks draining slowly and gurgle, pools of water developing in your shower, and toilets don’t flush as you know they should.

Gurgling Toilets

Toilets are designed to remove lots of wastewater quickly. Any delays or gurgling when you flush indicate a problem in removing the waste.

Sewer Backups

Does your drain grate overflow with wastewater and toilet paper when a tap is running?

Contaminated Puddles Or Green Patches On Lawn

Green patches are among the best ways to identify a leaking pipe in our relatively dry climate. Unpleasant smells can help determine whether you have a leaking water pipe or waste pipe.

Sink Holes

Leaking water can erode the earth beneath the surface that only starts to display itself when it becomes severe enough to show as a sinkhole. Ideally, you want to catch the problem before this stage, as sinkholes require considerable repairs.

Bad Smells

Otherwise, unidentifiable bad smells can exhibit without the other symptoms listed above if the wastewater drains into the ground without surfacing. A foul smell means contamination, which is a health hazard and therefore, the situation should be approached as such.

Some Other Factors to Consider

Some plants and trees have destructive root systems and are notorious for growing into drain pipes. Your local nursery will be the best source of advice for assessing your garden and planting sewer-safe plants and trees.

If you have clay wastewater pipes (also known as earthenware), they are more porous than PVC or other types of wastewater pipes and can exude moisture even when in good condition. This will attract tree roots, leading to clogs, especially in times of drought. Some plants will have destructive roots that can be attracted by, and break into, otherwise sound clay wastewater pipes.

Get In Touch For a Professional Solution

If you suspect you have tree roots clogging your drain pipes, we can help. Call Botanical Plumbing today on (07) 3161 3006. We can inspect your drains using our CCTV drain inspection camera as a damage-free means of diagnosing your plumbing problems so we can offer an effective solution. Botanical Plumbing is your expert at plumbing diagnosis and repair.