Today we had to call in a sewer cleaning company to deal with a blocked sewer within the community. The specialists dealing with the blockage highlighted three main problems.

Firstly, the blockage was caused by people putting vegetable matter down the sink and a variety of wipes down the lavatory. In time these can gather around the sides of the pipe and cause a blockage because they do not readily decompose.

Secondly, the sewer network does not flow directly down roads and passageways to the main sewer, it runs underneath many owners’ gardens. These sewer runs connect several homes before going to the main sewer.

Some of these gardens with a sewer run below have hedges, bushes and trees, and, in time, roots from them get into the sewers and cause a blockage.

Owners who have hedges/bushes/trees in their gardens need to consider whether it is time to have them removed to avoid a costly bill if they cause serious sewer damage in future.