Have you ever experienced at some point in your life when you had a really bad cough, so bad that when you try to breathe, you have an uncontrollable gurgling sound coming from somewhere down your throat? It’s the same thing that happens whenever you have that gurgling sound in your toilet or any other plumbing fixture in your house. You have something partially blocking up those drains.
Gurgling drains are one of the symptoms you need to look out for, as it will inevitably lead to or indicate that you’re about to get a blocked drain. Usually, we determine we have blocked drains when we notice that our toilets are slowly flushing or the water is slowly getting away, drain water is backing up and flooding our garages and pathways, or your boundary shafts or inspection points are overflowing. Often we receive calls from our customers complaining about the gurgling sounds they hear coming from their toilets, but the odd part is, their toilet is working properly.
Question:
So why does the toilet flush properly, there is no water backing up from drains and no foul smell.
Answer:
Not every drain will make a gurgling noise before you suddenly back up or before you realise that water is already spilling on the ground outside your house and your toilets won’t flush. Lucky for those people whose drain gurgles, it’s an early sign of something that’s blocking up the pipes.
Question:
What causes the gurgling noise?
Answer:
The noise is actually caused by air trying to escape from the drain or enter the the drain. Imagine sipping on cold fruit smoothie using a straw, halfway done with your fruit smoothie you’d notice that you’ll hear a gurgling while sipping and that gives you the idea that you’re almost done or some fruit chunk got stuck at the bottom of your straw, It’s the same principle. Your drainage system consists of heavy duty pipes working to accommodate a large volume of water every single day. The system is designed for water to properly flow. Now when something starts to block up water would have a hard time passing through and disrupts the entire flowing system.
Question:
What are the top things that could block my drains?
Answer:
You might get surprised by what could be blocking your drains, examples are:
- Tree roots
- Hair
- Food scrap
- The fat build-up
- Toilet wipes or tissue papers
- Kids toys
- On rare occasions animals like rats or possums
Prevention is Always Better Than Cure
A general rule is known to everyone and applies to all areas of our life. It is never a good idea to disregard your plumbing system’s health. It needs a little bit of TLC now and then. Just like your body, you need to maintain good health by eating well and taking vitamins. Also, you need to do an annual check-up with your doctor to predetermine upcoming potential health issues and you would be prescribed medications to prevent serious illness.
Your plumbing system needs an annual inspection conducted by a Licensed Professional Plumber to make sure future issues are prevented. It must be understood that the gurgling sound in your drain is a sign of a more serious plumbing issue and you should not resort to D-I-Y solutions as you may only worsen the situation.
Get Your Plumbing System Checked
Here is another article that you may find interesting “Do I call a Plumber or a Drainer to Clear my Drains?“.
It would be a wise decision to contact us at 13 10 91Â Â to do inspections. We also serve areas in Newcastle, Canberra, Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie, and Port Stephens.
At The Plumbing and Electrical Doctor we have made these articles downloadable to PDF for our customer’s convenience.
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