The Difficulties Around Drain Cleaning In Big Cities Like Dublin and London

We live in the YouTube and TikTok era. DIY guides on how to do seemingly anything, including cleaning drains, are at our fingertips. As such, it is easy for property owners to undertake drain cleaning as a DIY project. However, this is highly discouraged.

Not only are many owners ill-equipped and inexperienced in handling drain cleaning, but there are also numerous difficulties with drain cleaning, especially for big city dwellers such as in London and Dublin. Let’s explore the difficulties around drain cleaning in big cities to understand why you need experts cleaning your drains.

The Misuse Of Drains

One of the main challenges around drain cleaning in big cities is the misuse of the drainage system. The drainage system is designed to evacuate a limited variety of waste, such as black and grey water. Evacuating other items in the drainage system can and does cause severe blockages.

Flushing Non-Disposable Items – All major cities around the world, including London and Dublin, face the massive problem of blockages caused by flushing non-disposable items according to Total Drain Cleaning Dublin. It is common for drains to be blocked by sanitary wear, nappies, contraceptives, and hand and makeup wipes.

Fatbergs – Big cities face a huge issue of disposing of food scraps in drainage. The infamous fatbergs (an amalgamation of oil, fats, food, and scarps) of London are evidence of how much city dweller misuse their drainage systems.

The Supply Of Hard Water – It is highly difficult for water suppliers in big cities like London to demineralise the water they supply customers because it is cost-prohibitive. In the case of London, which is famous for its high mineral content in water, hence being hard water, you can rest assured you’ll deal with limescale issues. The scale can block drains, requiring wholesome replacements to unblock the clogs.

While public awareness campaigns have raised awareness of this issue, drain misuse is still prevalent in big cities.

An Aging Infrastructure

The public and private drainage systems in many big cities, including Dublin and London, are typically old. In the case of London, public drains were designed in 1860 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Obviously, the drains used state-of-the-art design and technology during their installation. However, the technology and designs are far outdated compared to contemporary options.

With many big cities having drains that are hundreds of years old, chances are the drainage systems are nearing the end or even past their life. Not only is the drainage system insufficient and incapable of handling the demands of the modern era, but they are also fragile and prone to blocks and breaks.

The same goes for private drains. Many homes, commercial properties, and buildings in London and Dublin are historical. They also have fragile old drains that are easy to block or rupture.

The state of public and private drains in major cities necessitates an increased frequency of cleaning, which is challenging. Additionally, the cleaning procedures must be extra careful and gentle to negate the chances of damaging the drains, increasing the cost of drain cleaning.

The Difficulties Around Drain Cleaning Brought By Mother Nature

Mother nature also adds to the challenge of drain cleaning. Frequent flooding, which is increasing in intensity occasioned by climate change, overwhelms public and private drains, causing increasingly expensive and difficult to deal with blockages. Such floods are also notorious for damaging old and structurally compromised drains, necessitating wholesome replacements.

Mother Nature also adds to the drain cleaning challenge through seasonal weather changes. The falling leaves in autumn add materials that end up in drains, increasing the pressure that drains endure and the need for drain cleaning.

Logistical Difficulties Associated With Reaching The Affected Areas 

Drain cleaning specialists face numerous logistical challenges while they render their service. Trying to locate a drain block is not as easy as it might first seem. Drainage systems are made of a complex matrix of pipes, each with the potential to suffer blockages.

That said, modern technology such as CCTV inspections and high-pressure water jetting has made it easier for cleaning specialists to identify and clear the blockages. However, this logistical problem remains due to the complexity of most drainage systems.

Another prevalent logistical issue is the high density of big cities. Trying to clean drains in a highly dense area is challenging and dangerous. Building density, vehicle, and foot traffic, as well as the presence of numerous underground installations, make for a complicated and challenging drain-cleaning experience. The cleaning company must invest in specialised equipment and training, which increases the cost of drain cleaning services.

The Challenge Of Taking Up Responsibility 

In major cities, the person or entity responsible for clearing the drains might not be intuitively clear. While it is easy for private homeowners to understand they are responsible for drain cleaning in their homes, beneath their homes, their driveway, or garden in a detached house, it might be easy to identify the responsible party in a flat, semi-detached, terraced home setting with shared drains. Moreover, many homeowners might not know where their private drains start and the public drains end.

Consequently, they might neglect drain cleaning, allowing minor issues to fester enough to become huge maintenance issues.

Draining cleaning in big cities like Dublin and London is challenging, requiring expert craftsmanship, specialised equipment and experts such as Chem-Dry Dublin. The ageing infrastructure, a dense population of residents, a high number of buildings, an evolving climate, and human behaviour associated with the misuse of drains combine to make it difficult and expensive to maintain clean and free-flowing drains.

Therefore, property owners must invest in regular drain inspections and cleaning, preventing issues from arising in the first place.