Keep It Out of the Drain: Wipes, Grease and Grit

Why it matters in Vaughan homes

Every house in Vaughan on city services drains through a lateral to the municipal sewer. When something sticks in that lateral, sewage has only one place to go: back up into the lowest drain in the house, usually a basement floor drain or shower. Beyond your property line, the city's sewer and the regional treatment plants deal with the same items on a much larger scale, and wipes and grease are among the worst offenders for pumping stations.

Older homes with cast-iron or clay laterals are especially vulnerable, because rough walls and root fibres catch debris that would slip past smooth plastic.

Step by step

1. Put a small bin in every bathroom. Most flushing mistakes happen because there is nowhere else to put something.
2. Know the never-flush list:
   • Wet wipes, even the ones sold as "flushable"
   • Napkins, facial tissue and paper towel
   • Dental floss and cotton swabs
   • Feminine hygiene products and diapers
   • Medications (return them to a pharmacy)
   • Cat litter, even the kinds marketed as flushable
3. Keep fats out of the sink. Pour cooled grease into a can, scrape pans into the green bin, and see our article on grease and kitchen drains.
4. Watch the laundry tub. Paint, drywall mud and grout harden in pipes; let them dry and dispose of them properly.
5. Use strainers. Mesh baskets in kitchen and shower drains catch most solids.

Common mistakes

• Running hot water to "melt" grease down the drain. It cools and hardens further along.
• Assuming a garbage disposal can handle everything. Fibrous peels, coffee grounds and eggshells still clog.
• Pouring chemical drain openers into a clog, which rarely work on wipes and can damage older pipes.
• Flushing a few wipes at a time and assuming they are fine because the toilet did not overflow.

Time to bring in Vaughan Plumbers

If more than one fixture is slow or backs up together, especially on the lowest floor, the blockage is likely in the main line. Stop using water and call. A blocked main can push sewage into the basement, and our page on basement flooding repair explains what happens next. If a camera shows the lateral is broken rather than just blocked, line replacement or sewer repair may be required.

Prevention is cheap and mostly about habit. A bin, a strainer and a grease can do more for your drains than any product on a store shelf.

It also helps to tell everyone in the house, guests included. Most problem items go down because someone did not know better, and a short note on the inside of a bathroom cabinet door is often enough to fix that.