Sewage Backing Up Into Your Home: The Emergency Nobody Talks About

In life, there are certain things people do not like to think about. The urge is strong to cite grim examples here, but we will keep it PG.

But one thing we know for sure, as professional licensed plumbers with an expertise in Sydney emergency plumbing, is that rarely anybody ever thinks about or prepares for the possibility of sewage backing up into their homes.

It is disgusting, it is a health hazard, it is expensive to deal with and it is just… not cool to think about. Sadly, like other things people avoid thinking about, they happen, and in Sydney, they happen fairly often. We know because we have responded to many such emergency calls as the Premium Sydney Plumbers that we are.

While we are all too happy to deal with these emergencies for you, we understand that you would rather we don’t. This guide has all the steps and tips that you need to know and follow so that you do not ever have to deal with raw sewage on your property, or at least mitigate the damage this can cause.

This guide also explains the causes of a sewer backup and professional plumbers permanently solve the problem.

What is a Sewage Backup?

When sewage can no longer travel smoothly down the sewer line on your property straight into the Sydney Water main sewer line and into the sewage canals, it will find an escape route.

This is what we call sewage backup.

In severe cases, the raw sewage that cannot flow into the mains will come out through your shower drains, your toilet bowl or spill onto your property from pipes outside. In not-so-severe cases, you will notice that your toilet water levels have increased, or that your laundry and shower drains bubble and take a while to drain water.

This happens when there is something blocking your sewer line’s access to the Sydney Water sewage network. If you live in an apartment building, you could be suffering because your neighbour’s toilet is blocked.

Why Does Sewage Back Up?

Plumbing in city centres and suburbs are all connected. Even if you live on your own property, your plumbing connects to the main sewage network or main water network. In Sydney, this network is underground, making it imperative that every connecting sewer line is maintained properly to avoid a situation where people have to waddle through wastewater overflow or sewage back-flow.

Under normal circumstances, when you flush the toilet in your home or pour wastewater down the drain, it goes smoothly down through your sewer line and wastewater drain and into the main sewage network, and into the sewage canal. In abnormal circumstances, the sewage gets obstructed on its way to the sewer mains, the waste finds another way out, and you have to deal with sewage overflows.

Some of the most common causes of these situations include:

• Tree roots growing into cracked pipes
• “Flushable” wet wipes labelled that are not “flushable” in any way
• Grease and cooking oils
• Foreign objects flushed down toilets
• Collapsed or damaged pipes
• Older clay pipework
• Poor plumbing installation
• Pipe movement caused by soil shifts

In our experience as Premium Sydney Plumbers, we have found that the cause of these overflows are usually further down the sewer line. This is why it always requires professional attention and is classified as an emergency, no matter how little overflow you have to deal with.

The Growing Problem Across Sydney

As a bustling city with many suburbs and urban settlements, this problem is not unexpected in Sydney. In fact, you can never be too cautious that you forget to be ready when it comes to sewer blockages.

Sydney Water’s data shows that the city deals with around 20,000 sewer and wastewater blockages every year. These incidents do not include the many calls that licensed tradespeople like us attend to on private properties and commercial sites.

We listed a number of causes in the previous section, but the two main causes of this issue, according to Sydney Water, are “flushable” wipes and tree roots.

Wipes have never been flushable nor will they ever be flushable. They are not as soft as regular tissue paper that flowing wastewater can easily break down, and so they stay for long in drain pipes. With time, they become traps for smaller pieces of debris which then builds up into a big obstruction that causes a backup.

Then there are tree roots, which infiltrate the plumbing systems underground as they grow towards moisture. If the pipes are old, the roots will break them and block them. Then they will trap other small debris to cause a blockage in the pipes.

Dealing with blockages caused by wipes and non-flushable foreign objects is easy, because the plumber just has to remove the blockage and clean out the pipes. Tree roots are not as straightforward to deal with because cutting them out is not the end.

Tree roots will always grow back. Pipes have moisture, which means the roots will grow back in the direction of the pipes. The only thing that will stop the tree roots from breaking through again are permanent pipe repairs such as pipe relining.

That’s why we always recommend a CCTV drain inspection after clearing any significant blockage from your sewage systems. That way, we can tell you if you need pipe relining or even a total overhaul of your pipe systems to prevent future plumbing emergencies.

This problem will not stop any time soon because Sydney is growing in population. The infrastructure is also ageing. Luckily, you have us, the Premium Sydney Plumbers, to call on when issues arise.

Pipe Relining: Repair Without Digging

Let us take a moment to talk about pipe relining.

There are several ways to repair burst pipes underground. The easiest way is to dig trenches and replace the broken parts of the pipe. This method can be messy and time consuming.

Your property will also be defaced and you will have to spend money on landscaping or paving.

Pipe relining is a method of fixing broken pipes underground that does not require excavating whole driveways or gardens. Plumbers who know this method will simply open a small area, and slide in a structural liner inside the pipe with the help of a CCTV camera to guide them.

This liner, made of resin, will harden around the walls of the pipe to create a new lining that restores the pipe to its full strength.

Pipe repairs for sewage backup call outs are usually done this way so that the property owner can go back to living normally. However, it isn’t suitable for every call out.

Some pipes may have deteriorated beyond repair and the plumber will have to completely dig the line out and replace it.

Premium Sydney Plumbers will explain all available options after inspection upon a call out before doing anything, so you have the final say.

Pump Failure as a Source of Sewage Overflows

Some modern homes use pumps to transport their sewage into the mains. When pumps fail in such homes, it becomes a problem.

These are the warning signs of pump failure:

• Alarm activation
• Overflowing pump pits
• Slow drainage
• Gurgling fixtures
• Unusual noises
• Persistent odours

If you use pumps to expel sewage and wastewater from your home or property, make sure that you have someone on speed dial to come service them regularly, or you will have to set aside a budget for when your pumps fail.

Early Warning Signs Your Sewer Line Needs Attention

Plumbing emergencies may take you by surprise, but they do not happen out of the blues. There are always warning signs.

The common signs of a failing sewer line are:

• Slow-draining sinks and showers
• Multiple blocked drains
• Toilets that gurgle after flushing
• Water rising in nearby drains
• Persistent bad smell around bathrooms
• Bubbling noises inside pipes
• Damp patches in the garden
• Exceptionally green grass over underground pipes

Do not ignore these signs when you notice them. Better yet, book regular inspections so that you do not have to look out for these signs at all.

What To Do Immediately if Sewage is Backing Up

1. Stop Using Every Plumbing Fixture

Immediately you see sewage or wastewater coming out from where it should not, turn off all the taps. In fact, turn off the main water supply to your home, because the water pressure will add to the pressure that the sewer line is already handling. This can cause worse problems for you.

2. Keep Everyone Away

It goes without saying, but you have to cordon off the area. Do not let your children or pets go near the area where the wastewater or sewage is escaping from. They could contract a nasty illness due to the bacteria, viruses and parasites that sewage carries. Lock down the area and wait for professional sewage clean up services to clean out the place for you and your family to use again.

3. Avoid Chemical Drain Cleaners

Only professional and licensed plumbers can actually use chemical drain cleaners the way they are supposed to be used. Even at that, plumbers tend to stay away from them unless there is no option. What this means is that you should not attempt to use it to try and unclog your drains if they are blocked and sewage is flowing back into your home. They tend to make the situation worse.

If you use them wrongly, you can cause pipes to corrode and then you may have hidden leaks all over your property, making matters worse.

4. Check if it is Just Your Property

This is important if you live in a strata building because sometimes, the problem may arise because of a neighbour’s blocked toilet or drains.

If this is the case, it means that the central strata plumbing has a blockage that needs clearing, or the Sydney Water network that connects your apartment building to the canal is blocked by tree roots or debris.

This will help you make the right call with the right information to the right people.

5. Take Pictures of Everything

This is for insurance purposes, because you will need the evidence for any claims you would have to make later.

Take clear photos of every affected room, the standing wastewater, as well as damages to floor, furniture, walls and personal belongings before you start any cleaning.

6. Call Premium Sydney Plumbers

This should be the first thing you do, but we moved it down to the bottom of the list as we had to stress the importance of preparing for our arrival.

Every step listed before this one is to prepare the area for our emergency service made up of experienced licensed plumbers to come and work their magic on your sewer line.

Not doing them could make our arrival become a consultation call-out for a much larger restoration project than an emergency plumbing repair.

What Happens When Our Emergency Team Arrives?

We follow the procedure below to address every emergency plumbing issues that has to do with sewage backup:

• Safety assessment
• Locating the blockage
• Clearing the obstruction
• Inspecting the pipe internally
• Identifying permanent repair options
• Testing the drainage system
• Explaining findings with photos or video

Using this approach, our emergency team will make sure that you do not have to deal with this issue again, or at least, for a very long time.

With respect to the actual actions we take to solve the problem, here’s what we do:

• Step One: Locate the Wastewater Blockage

Finding the exact location of a wastewater blockage is essential to anything we do when called out for sewage backup solutions. If we do not accurately diagnose this (usually with the help of a CCTV camera), we cannot do anything.

• Step Two: High-Pressure Drain Cleaning

Once the camera has spotted the blockage, we use jet blasting machines to carry out high-pressure drain cleaning to remove the blockage in the line.

This pressure cleaning method uses water shot out at high speeds and pressure from the jet blasting machines to bulldoze all obstacles from the path of the wastewater or sewage. It also cleans the insides of the drain line so that it looks good as new.

Because only water is used in this process, it is environmentally responsible and safer than relying on harsh chemicals.

Protecting Your Water Supply

A severe sewer backup can affect the water supply to your home, increasing the health risk potential.

After every serious flooding event or sewage overflow, look for experts that can carry out water analysis so that you can treat the water or install certain filters before you continue using it.

Understanding Forensic Cleaning

Some sewage backflow incidents can require more than regular cleaning, especially when they are severe. A case where the sewage pipe bursts and waste gushes out like water from a spring is an example of a situation where the services of a regular sewage clean up crew will not cut it.

If it happens the way we described in the last paragraph, you will need forensic cleaning specialists to come and take charge. This is because your home or property may have been seriously contaminated to the point of being a biohazard.

These specialists will use commercial disinfectants, specialised equipment and strict safety procedures to restore the area to meet the appropriate health and safety conditions.

If the sewage incident occurred at a school or medical facility, forensic cleaning is the type of cleaning that you should call for. A strata building or large residential building, like a villa, will also need this type of cleaning after a sewage incident.

Modern Remediation Techniques Following Sewage Overflows

When large properties face sewage backflows, clean up and restoration companies will use advanced remediation techniques to deal with any potential contaminants and prevent creeping damage (damage that slowly sets in after some time due to exposure to sewage or wastewater).

These techniques include:

• Moisture mapping
• Industrial drying equipment
• HEPA air filtration
• Antimicrobial treatments
• Odour neutralisation
• Structural drying
• Material removal where necessary

Of course, not all of them are applied. The combination of the remediation techniques used from the list above will depend on the severity of the situation. These methods are used to help reduce the risk of mould growth and return the air quality to normal.

Preventing Future Sewer Emergencies

• Follow the Three-P Rule

Only flush, pee, poo and toilet paper down your toilet. Everything else belongs in the bin. As we have stated earlier, most of the blocked drains that the city deals with have been caused by people flushing products like wipes, sanitary pads, tampons and rags down their toilets.

• Keep Grease Out of Your Drains

This can be difficult, but it is doable. All you need to do is be deliberate about scooping out food remains from your plates before throwing them in the sink to wash, or pouring used cooking oil elsewhere but the kitchen sink. This small habit is an essential plumbing safety hack that will save you from big problems in the future.

• Schedule Regular Drain Inspections

Do not wait until you notice the signs of a blocked drain. Call on us to check your drains often, so that we can detect the problems before they happen and help you solve them. This is important especially if you live in an older home, a property that is surrounded by mature trees or a building with recurring drainage issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can a sewage backup fix itself?

No, it cannot. Once a drain is blocked, it can only be unblocked by a professional. Heavy rains rushing down the stormwater drain, flushing extra hard or even using plungers cannot totally unblock a blocked drain.

• Why is sewage coming up through my shower instead of the toilet?

In many properties, the shower drain is the lowest plumbing fixture. It goes without saying that the wastewater or sewage looking for an outlet will come out through the drain.

• Is sewage backing up dangerous?

It is very dangerous. It can make your home into a biohazardous space, ruin your electrical connections, and most importantly, cost you thousands in property damage.

• Can tree roots grow back after the drain has been cleared?

Tree roots will always grow back, especially if the tree is healthy. To prevent them from growing back into the pipe and blocking it again, use permanent pipe repairs solutions like pipe relining to strengthen the pipe. That way, the roots will be forced to grow around the pipes.

• How often should sewer lines be inspected?

If you live on an older property, or you live in a building that has a history of recurring blockages, you need to do this often. Once every year is ideal for this.

• Does heavy rain cause sewer backups?

Heavy rain does not directly cause sewer backups, but it can increase the pressure on the sewage systems. This is why you need regular inspections to see the weaknesses in your line.

• Can businesses remain open during a sewer backup?

If the incident is not a severe one, then yes. The staff can carry out minor clean ups after cordoning off the area and call our emergency service to fix the issue. If the incident happened at a food business, healthcare facility or similar commercial sites, they may need to totally suspend operations until the area is cleaned and declared safe.

Contact Premium Sydney Plumbers Today

If you’re experiencing sewage backing up, recurring blocked drains, overflowing fixtures or suspect that there is damage to your sewer line, don’t wait for the situation to become worse.

Our experienced emergency services team at Plumber Sydney provides fast and reliable Sydney Emergency Plumbing services for homes, businesses and strata properties throughout the Sydney area.

Contact us today to arrange an inspection and find out why so many Sydney property owners trust us for reliable essential plumbing services.