Is your Sydney business susceptible to blocked drains?
Blocked drains are a nightmare for business owners. An “out of order” blocked toilet is not only an inconvenience for customers, it’s also unpleasant on the nose and unhygienic. It’s not something you want your business to be remembered for. Most business owners experience plumbing problems at some stage or another, but some Sydney businesses get blocked drains and blocked toilets more frequently than others.
Clogged drains in Sydney restaurants
Having a blocked drain in a restaurant is a significant problems because it can impact equipment that’s needed for the smooth running of food service. Whether it be a blockage that’s causing the dishwasher to malfunction or a blocked toilet, both require immediate attention so that business can continue normally.
Fats, food, oil and grease (“FOG”) are the most likely causes of a blocked drains in commercial kitchens. When FOG enters into the plumbing system it solidifies inside the pipes, causing clogged drain and sewer blockages.
A busy dinner service can see upwards of 100 covers. And if each of those people have two or three courses, that’s a huge amount of dishes to be washed. Not to mention the pots and pans used by the chefs to prepare those meals.
Grease traps are designed to do to precisely what their name implies - trap excess fats and oils that are being washed down the drain lines from the sink, dishwasher and pot sinks. However, the location of grease traps can impact their functionality. If they are too close to the sinks, the residual hot water from the dishwasher can wash the grease right through the trap. On the other hand, if the trap is too far away, you may risk the fats congealing and blocking the drain before it can be removed by the trap. Regular cleaning and maintenance of traps is important to prevent clogs and back-flow.
In terms of food scraps, make sure plates are scraped into bins and rinsed well before being put through the dishwasher. Have drain grates in place to prevent food particles from entering the drainage system, and clean the dishwasher filter regularly.
Blocked drains in hair salons
If hair can cause drainage problems within a private home, it’s not hard to imagine the number of blocked drains caused by hair in a hair salon. When we wash our hair it’s natural that some strands fall out. While a single strand seems harmless enough, hair can become snagged in the pipes, forming a clog and causing blocked drain.
Hairdressers wash hair all day long so hair builds up in the pipes at a much faster rate. Bleaching, dying and straightening can also weaken hair, leading to an increase in breakage and in turn more hair being washed down the sink drain. Hairdressers also have the added risk of hair clippings being swept into the floor waste.
As with all clogged drains in Sydney, the best way to avoid them is to prevent them. Hair salons can use sink drain covers or sieves to prevent excessive hair being washed down the sink drain. Regular maintenance is another great way to avoid blocked drains. JAB Plumbing Solutions works with a number of Sydney salons, performing routine drain cleaning using jet blasters.
Businesses with a large number of female staff
There’s nothing shameful about menstruating, it’s simply a part of life. However, many women prefer to remain silent about the logistics of it, including how they dispose of tampons and sanitary items. Plenty of women prefer to flush tampons down the toilet and forget about it. It’s an out of sight, out of mind mentality.
A recent article published in the The Guardian estimated that up to 2 billion sanitary items are flushed down toilets each year in Britain alone. Another article states that “around 800 tonnes of wipes, tampons and other sanitary items are removed from sewers every week in the Eastern region of England.”
While we haven’t come across specific Sydney stats, experience tells us that women in Sydney are flushing tampons too. JAB Plumbing Solutions is called out on a weekly basis to all types of businesses - child care centres, hairdressers and universities - to clear blockages caused by sanitary items.
It might seem like the easiest and least messy means of disposal, but sewer lines are not built to cope with chunky, non-biodegradable items. When flushed, they don’t disintegrate like toilet paper, instead accumulating in the pipes and resulting in blocked drains across Sydney. Furthermore, waste treatment plants can’t filter out every sanitary item that ends up in the sewer lines and many make their way into our waterways and oceans.
To minimise the risk of a blocked drain in your Sydney business, ensure there is clear signage in the bathrooms that outlines the correct method of disposal. Get the sanitary bins cleaned regularly so that women aren’t deterred from using them. Using sensor operated bins that don’t require women to physically touch the bin are also a good incentive.
Need a blocked drain plumber?
If you’re a business that suffers from recurring blocked drains, the licensed Sydney plumbers at JAB Plumbing Solutions are drain cleaning experts. Our entire fleet is fitted with CCTV drain inspection cameras, pipe locators and high-pressured water jets that allow our plumbers to find blockages, determine the cause and clear them fast. Call us on 1800 225 552.
