Craziest Sewer Clogs

The sewer line is one of the most delicate systems in your property that, when not handled with care, can cause a sewer clog in the long run. If you have spent a substantial amount of time in a particular building, the chances are high that you will spend a substantial amount of money fixing plumbing issues caused by clogs. When you flush anything other than soft, flushable tissue paper, you are setting yourself up for disaster. 

As a company in Maryland counties like Owings Mills plumbers , we at BFMD, LLC get a lot of calls and inquiries related to sewer line clogs that obstruct the effective flow of the sewer system. We are often shocked by the vast number of items we find when performing a video inspection of pipes to ascertain the cause of the problem. Here is a list of some of the craziest sewer clogs we have encountered over the years:

Money

Talk about flushing money down the drain. In the various inspections we have conducted over the years, we have encountered many coins that had been flushed into the drainage system, accidentally or otherwise. One time we found a torn piece of a $100 note that was destroyed beyond repair and clogged among coins in a sewer pipe.

Toys

In households with young kids, it isn’t a surprise to find clogs that contain toys of different types and sizes. Whether they put them in there knowingly or by mistake, these toys will find their way in the sewer regardless, making it hard for water to be drained effectively.  From legos to balls and even metal toys, these items usually take shorter than a week to block the sewer pipe.

Garments

You would be amazed at how many times we have found clothing inside a sewer line. These range from bras to underwear and even socks that collect with other waste material to form clogs around the bends of sewer pipes. Articles of clothing with harder material tend to clog the sewer system faster than soft material, which takes some time to clog the sewage

Birds’ Eggs

We once found two nests with bird eggs in them along the sewer line. This was a family home that had an exposed cleanout pipe opening that allowed debris and animals to enter the sewer system. These nests provided a home for the birds but also held up wastewater, causing the sewer pipe to block.

Cement

When attending to an emergency call we received from a young family, we found broken pieces of cement inside the drainage system which blocked the sewer pipes. This usually results from Do It Yourself (DIY) repair projects homeowners may be tempted to engage in.

Bones

In most cases, the bones found in the sewer line come from leaving utensils with leftovers in the sink. These bones mix with grease and hair, creating a substantial blockage that restricts the exit of wastewater from your house. This becomes tricky, especially when the bone is hard, which can result in cracks in the pipes or can even cause the pipe to burst open.

A Baby

This is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a human being; being flushed down the drain. A lady was convicted for flushing her newborn baby boy down the drain, claiming that she was not ready to take care of it. As you can imagine, a baby will block a substantial portion of your sewer line, making it almost impossible for wastewater to flow freely.

Jewelry

From a luxury watch to a $5,000 engagement ring, we have encountered valuable jewelry inside a home’s sewer line. One time, a lady client called for an emergency which happened to be a clog that contained a costly engagement ring that she had mistakenly flushed down the toilet.

Another instance involved a luxury watch that had been washed down the drain, causing a clog in the drainage system. Although the watch could not be brought back to life, we successfully resolved the drainage problem.

Smart Phone

Imagine that, a smartphone in your sewer line! The client had accidentally flushed the phone down the toilet when it fell from his pocket. Luckily, we were able to dislocate the clog but the phone was damaged beyond repair.

The number of interesting items we have encountered in the sewer clogs is absurd. We advise you to be keen on separating the flushable items from the ones that cannot be flushed and dispose of them separately. 

This article was made possible by:

BFMD LLC

4219-A Hanover Pike

Manchester, MD 21102

410-440-5814

bfmdplumbing@gmail.com

https://www.bfplumbingmd.com/ 

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