Water management is very important for every kind of civilization. One of many masterpieces that the ancient Roman empire had were the aqueducts.
They even started making public sewers before the empire fell, which would not appear until much later in the future.
Without any plumbing, diseases spread pretty easily back during the middle ages and even much later.
Once people put two and two together, they knew that ancient Romans and other civilizations were right.
Now, we have these systems, but are we taking good care of these pipes? Some people do take good care of them, and some people take pipes for granted.
This is completely reasonable because we do not get the proper education about how to take care of them.
Nor do we get proper knowledge on many other real-life problems but hey, that is a topic for another time.
Here is a short guide on how you can unclog and take care of stuck pipes in your home.
Calling a professional
Every household is unique and thus has a unique situation with pipes and drainage.
This is why calling a professional in your area is usually the best answer because plumbing and heating needs in Vancouver are different from other places in northern America and other continents.
Piping materials are different and so too are the various things that go down the drain.
With such a variety of problems, calling a professional to unclog pipes seems pretty reasonable.
The right chemicals
Before calling a professional, you can try to unclog pipes by yourself with some simple solutions.
The first thing you usually want to do is the good old baking soda and vinegar trick. Pour some steaming hot water down the drain and add baking soda.
Hot water is great because it increases the kinetic energy of all of the molecules.
With increased kinetic energy, every process is much faster in relation to the Arrhenius equation.
Baking soda is there to increase the pH and thus dissolve matter soluble under basic conditions. Vinegar is there as the next step to dissolve acid-soluble matter.
This solution is pretty simple, and the efficiency varies depending on the resistance of sludge matter.
In most cases, you will need some stronger chemicals, stronger bases, and acids, which are much more dangerous. Professionals know how to use these chemicals safely and effectively against sludge.
They also know the amounts that are acceptable for pipes so they do not end up as collateral damage.
Getting in there
You can also unclog stuck pipes if you physically get in there and remove sludge by yourself. In order to do that, you will need sturdy wiring and some muscle power to grind off the sludge.
You can make a makeshift pipe cleaning using a clothes hanger if you have a metallic one.
You can also buy one, but the best ones usually cost more money. You may also need to open up the pipes if you want to get in there and start cleaning.
This whole process can be quite messy if this is your first time handling clogged pipes.
Regular cleaning
In order to prevent your pipes from clogging, you will need to clean them regularly. It is better to take a few extra minutes per week to clean the pipes instead of that happening unexpectedly.
It is recommended that you clean your pipes once every month to prevent clogging.
Just run some drain cleaner from the store regularly and you will not have any unwanted surprises. Put a drain strainer in there to prevent any larger trash from clogging the pipes.
Watch what you throw
Prevention is again the best solution for problems not appearing in the future.
If your toilet pipes are susceptible to toilet paper clogging, do not throw toilet paper in there. Do not throw any diapers or pads in there because they absorb everything.
Do not pour grease down your sink in the kitchen, store it in a separate bottle.
You can make soap from that excess grease that would otherwise make sludge in your pipes.
As you can see, it really is not difficult to take proper care of your pipes. With just a bit of care and a few tricks, you will no longer need to fear pipes clogging unexpectedly.
It is great that you are taking interest in such an important topic that still not many people know about.
By continuing to work on such very important things, you will develop many useful skills.
Everything is connected, and plumbing is such an example. Who would expect that you can connect chemistry and physics with clogged pipes?
By asking these questions and looking for connections, you can resolve more problems than just clogged pipes.