Woollahra Council trees are blocking my drains

Many of the blocked drains we attend to are caused by the trees that line the streets managed by Woollahra Council.

At street level, the trees’ canopy brings summer shade and all kinds of birdlife.

Contrary to belief, tree roots don’t go in search of water. They are stimulated as moisture levels, and the surrounding soil temperature reaches a point that is appealing to them.

Sydney suburbs managed by Woollahra Council: Bellevue Hill, Darling Point, Double Bay, Edgecliff, Paddington, Point Piper, Rose Bay, Vaucluse

In most circumstances, the tree roots enter through leaking pipe joints and damage the sewer drains and stormwater pipes that take wastewater off your property. Many homeowners hold Woollahra Council responsible for their blockage and expect they will clear their blocked drains for free because the Council own the trees.

Well, in some cases they do!

But, Woollahra Council gets their income from you the ratepayer, and as you would expect, they have guidelines for spending ratepayers money to fix your blocked drains.

If you live in one of the suburbs managed by Woollahra Council, click here to see the Woollahra Council Wastewater Policy.

The top points are that you the homeowner:

Must have a sewer service diagram for your home.
Must maintain your sewer pipes.
Must prevent sewer blockages.
Must prevent sewerage from escaping into the environment.
May be entitled to the Council plumber clearing your blocked drain.

Do tree roots grow in PVC pipes?

Do tree roots grow in PVC pipe?

Yes they do!

The PVC pipe shown here in this Youtube clip has tree roots growing in through the wall of the pipe in three different places. There is a significant Norfolk pine tree and a Paperbark tree within two-three metres of the pipe.
The roots were cut from this pipeline about 8 weeks ago.

This survey was taken before applying Vaporooter to the pipe line.

Vaporooter will NOT fix a broken pipe. Vaporooter stops tree roots in drains!

In this case, we are only keeping the roots at bay until the necessary repairs are undertaken.

Blocked Pipes and Council Trees

Did you know many blocked sewers are caused by the tree roots from Council street trees?
This issue is becoming a very big drain on the budget of many local councils.
The council owned trees that make some of our more sought after suburban streets very special, are creating havoc underground by repeatedly blocking the sewer pipelines from many of the homes on those streets. Councils are fighting a losing battle trying to bring the tree roots under control.

The budgets of many local councils are strained as they just can’t keep up with the demand of their ratepayers to attend to sewer blockages caused by these street trees.

There is an economical way for local councils to Stop Tree Roots in Pipes and ease the burden on the budget and the ratepayers who have regular tree root blockages.

Vaporooter Kills Roots. Period!

A plumbing emergency and ducks we’ve rescued

We were called out to this plumbing emergency that brought an unexpected surprise.

Our client had a blocked drain and when we had just about completed that repair, cutting tree roots from her sewer pipes, she called out because she needed a hand in her back yard.

A mother duck that had been nesting in her dense rear garden had chosen today to take her babies for their first swimming lesson. The ducklings took to the water like ….. well, ducks to water. The only problem was that the water level in the pool was a little low, they couldn’t get out of the pool and they were getting very tired.

Our attempts to rescue them by hand and with the pool scoop, brought a tirade of squawking and flapping of wings from the mother duck. She didn’t want us anywhere near her babies! We found a plank in the back shed which we put in the pool and then draped an old towel along the length of the plank, then stood back.

When mother duck settled down she could see we were trying to help, she led the baby ducklings up the plank and after checking they were all out, she herded them back to the nest in the dense undergrowth.
She gave us another flurry of feathers when we tried to check on the babies.

Every day brings another adventure!

Don’t play Noughts and Crosses when you have sewer problems

Today’s post comes courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault, The Exponential Growth Strategist. At his recent Exponential Business Building Bootcamp, he showed a series of “impossible pictures” from Swedish Artist Erik Johansson. This photo was of particular interest. This is what we want to avoid with the use of Vaporooter when tree roots get into and block your pipes and drains.

Sydney Water fights tree roots in sewer pipes

Sydney Water, the guardians of our main sewer pipes, are constantly waging war against tree roots in our main sewer lines!

Many clients from Double Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Edgecliff, Woollahra, Paddington, Rose Bay, Point Piper and Darling Point, residents with lots of trees and tree roots growing in the sewer pipes around their homes, report Sydney Water are systematically surveying the mains around their neighbourhood.

If you have a tree root problem on the branch to the sewer pipes for your home, they will advise you.

To cut tree roots from your sewer pipes before it becomes a plumbing emergency follow their advice.

To keep the tree roots out of your sewer pipes you should seriously consider using Vaporooter.

Plumbing Products – Bio-Clean and Vaprooter

Plumbing Products Have Come a Long Way: A Look at Some Products and Their Benefits

Sir John Harrington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth I made a new invention for his godmother: Sir John created the flush toilet and built it for his godmother. This all took place in 1596, according to history records.

Alexander Cummings obtained the first patent for a flushing toilet in 1775. Toilets started gaining popularity, and a city wide sewer system was constructed to handle the flow of refuse. As science advanced, it was recognised that poor sanitation caused diseases and in 1880 the officials of the day decided that toilets and sewer systems were not luxuries but priorities to control human waste and disease.

Jumping to modern day plumbing, the innovations and possibilities are endless when you have plumbing services like The Lone Drainer and Pronto, experts in the field of plumbing with 40 years combined experience. Any type of renovation, plumbing emergency or plumbing need can be taken care of with just one phone call to The Lone Drainer and Pronto.

Sewer lines brought whole new problems to society that had not been faced before. Many old trees had roots that sometimes stretched for a block. These roots invaded the sewer lines because the roots are attracted to the plumbing pipes where they find a constant source of moisture. Today there is a product that eliminates this problem for you. Vaporooter is 100% safe and has been used successfully for more than 40 years. Paying for repairs is much more expensive than using Vaporooter to prevent the problem in the first place. Vaporooter stops tree root blockage from occurring.

Are you tired of having plumbing problems where roots have crushed, cracked or blocked your sewer pipes? It gets very expensive trying to keep up with repairs. So call The Lone Drainer and Pronto plumbing services and get insurance on your drains with Vaporooter.

Older homes with older pipes can produce a foul odour, but there is a way to solve that problem. The plumbing services of The Lone Drainer and Pronto have a product that will solve this problem for you faster than you could have ever imagined. You will no longer have to be embarrassed about the odour coming out of your pipes when you use Bio-Clean. This environmentally friendly bacteria waste eliminator will get your pipes spotless and odour free. What a relief it will be to walk into your home and smell the cut flowers instead of sour old pipes!

Bio-Clean performs several functions such as cleaning out the hair in the drains and pipes, and dissolves paper and cotton without using toxic chemicals. This environmentally green solution to an ageless problem is safe, will clear most of the obstruction in the drains and pipes and will not damage your pipes and/or fittings. Bio-clean is friendly to your plumbing pipes and drains.

Just what is your peace of mind worth when the plumbing goes on the blink and the missus is upset because your drains are blocked? Call The Lone Drainer and Pronto, and keep the peace in your household with Vaporooter and Bio-Clean.

Trumpets and toilets

The 2010 Pumper and Cleaner Environmental Expo held in Louisville Kentucky February 24th-27th 2010

We went to Louisville to see how the best of the best plumbers in the United States, look after their clients. If you have blocked sewer drains, blocked sewer pipes caused by tree roots in your pipes, or tree roots in your drains, or overflowing toilets, the experts we met at Pumper Cleaner 2010 know how  to fix your problem.
As the name of the show suggests, the focus is on pumping and cleaning up on that other topic very close to my heart, sewerage, that’s right S – – T; because in our game S – – T happens.

Our short YouTube video shows some of the equipment on display and how it is used.

Enjoy the trip!

Music by Chuck Mangione, “Give it all You’ve Got”

Don’t Let Tree roots Take Over Sewer pipes!

Today’s post is courtesy of Joe from Woollahra Sydney.

Joe had constant problems with the trees around his Sydney home, and tree roots growing in his sewer pipes, blocking them repeatedly. He would need drain cleaning several times a year to cut the tree roots, as the London Plane trees around his home tightened their vice like grip on his sewer pipes and drains. When this happened, the sewer would overflow in his home and on some occasions the raw sewage would come up in his kitchen sink!

Joe found a way to deal with the tree roots in his sewer pipes, to stop them re-growing and blocking his sewer line.

Now, Joe and his wife Elizabeth, both teachers, travelled to South-east Asia to help those less fortunate and during their travels over summer visited Cambodia and in particular the ancient city of Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century.

Joe at Angkor Wat Beware of tree roots!

Joe was astonished by the power of these tree roots and how they could almost consume these ancient buildings. He couldn’t wait to share this and other images with us.

Joe says, “Don’t let tree roots take over your drains and sewer pipes!”

How do Tree Roots Get in Sewer Pipes And what Damage Can They Cause?

Homes that are connected to a municipal or mains sewer system have their biggest plumbing problems when tree roots have grown into pipes. In days gone by, one of the plumbing services would be called in to clear a blockage in the pipe, getting rid of those tree roots, but the tree roots would regrow and block up the sewer up again.

Regrowth of tree roots and the aggressive action of repeat cleaning earthenware or clay pipes with an electric eel or other drain cleaning equipment, is destructive to the integrity of the pipes.  The pipes split, crack and crumble after the roots repeatedly find their way into the pipes. The pipe then has to be replaced  at the home owner’s expense.

Tree roots are going to head for the easiest source of water they can find. A sewer pipe is the perfect environment; there is warmth, a constant stream of water and nutrients from degraded food matter. This is the perfect environment for those tree roots to take over your sewer system because the nutrient leakage through these pipes makes it even more inviting for the tree roots, and they just keep coming.

So the cycle continues!

Several things can be done to prevent root intrusion into the sewage system.

Liquid ambar, camphor laurel, ficus (fig) and London Plane trees are the worst offenders when it comes to sending roots to a convenient water source. Do not plant these varieties close to your sewage system.

Calling  plumber services Sydney to make sure that you can identify where the roots are, where the crack in the pipes is, and how to finally get rid of your root problem, can be costly. It is a good idea to find a plumber that uses a sewer pipe camera in order to identify exactly where the problem is.

There is a chemical treatment that can kill the tree roots invading the pipes without killing the trees; by using an experienced plumber in Sydney that can provide this plumbing service to get rid of those tree roots, you can save yourself costly repair bills.

The best way to avoid tree roots in your sewer pipes is to remove any young trees that are trying to grow near or above the sewer pipe lines. Call in a professional from one of the reputable plumbing services and make sure that when you do engage that plumber, they do all the diagnostics necessary to identify exactly where the problem is before they set about repairing busted pipes and removing those tree roots that will continue to invade the pipe system.

Tree Roots Growing In Sewer Pipes

Are the Roots of my Neighbours Trees, or the Trees Growing Out the Front of My Property, Growing in my Sewer Pipes?

One of the major plumbing concerns is trees that send roots into sewer lines, especially in homes that were built over twenty years ago. Trees are equipped with water finding capabilities that send tiny roots in every direction in a quest for water. The trenches where there are sewer lines do not usually have hard packed soil therefore, roots gravitate to this loose soil. When these roots invade from trees growing out the front of your property or from across the street and get into the sewer system, it is time to call in the professionals who do plumbing that know how to deal with a blocked drain. Read More

PVC Pipes Blocked by Hills Weeping Fig

The Hills weeping fig (ficus microcarpar var.) is a beautiful tree which in some areas  provides a shady archway for many streets in our Sydney Eastern suburbs.

But why are the residents of these streets pulling out their hair?

The Hills weeping fig is like Jekyll and Hyde.

Dr Jekyll brings shade in summer; tree lined streets become a breezeway, cooling our homes as their majestic branches cast shade and protect us from the searing summer heat, attracting birds to feed on their fruit twice a year.

But, Mr Hyde is lurking. Those same fruit bring flying foxes…and other mysteries.

My interest in this tree is the power of its root system. Their reach is widespread, sometimes 3 or 4 or more times wider than they are high. The root system will move stone walls, lift concrete footpaths and driveways and of course invade sewer and stormwater pipes. The  roots from this tree  just keep on coming after they are internally pruned with an electric eel or “Rattlesnake” high pressure water drain cleaner.

Last week we attended  to 4 tree root sewer  blockages directly caused by the Hills Weeping fig.

The 2 blocked sewer pipes that particularly interested me were PVC sewer pipes.

Why is that interesting, I hear you ask?

Well… tree roots don’t grow into PVC pipes! …..or do they?

The Kensington blocked drain was in an established housing estate about 10 – 15 years old. The townhouse in question had no previous blocked drain history. The Hills weeping fig was about 30 metres away. Its root system had grown up to this house and had actually grown into the PVC pipeline through a screw-on cap that we plumbers call a cleaning eye. The fine  roots had grown into the cap thread and multiplied inside the pipe thus causing the sewer blockage.

The Bellevue Hill blocked sewer was similar.

This house was built during the year of Sydney’s 2000 Olympic games after the long term owners, were tired of having blocked sewer pipes every 3 months, and tree roots “growing up through the back of the toilet”, amongst other reasons.

During the rebuild all the pipelines were installed in PVC pipes and fittings. The house finish was state of the art plumbing fixtures, with beautiful sandstone tiles around the outside of the house. All the pipes were concealed! No cleaning eyes! Why would we need access to the pipes as they have all been installed in tree root proof PVC?  The nearest fig tree was 30 odd metres away.

Well, what started as a simple blocked floorwaste, grew to removing that beautiful toilet suite to clear the blocked sewer pipe. We used the “Rattlesnake” high pressure water drain cleaner to remove tree roots from the blocked pipeline. When the blockage was cleared we carried out a camera survey of the pipeline. About 14 metres downstream the camera showed the remnants of the cut tree roots, but just as important, our drain camera survey showed the PVC pipe had been squashed. What was a round internal pipe, was now oval shaped with a crack in at least 1 of the fittings.

Who said tree roots don’t grow in PVC sewer pipes?

Beware Mr Hyde!

https://www.thelonedrainerandpronto.com.au/vaporooter.php

Hills Weeping Fig Tree