How to prevent drains from blocking

26 April 2022

Blocked Drain Prevention

How to keep your drains free of blockages (D.I.Y)

With Lytham being a coastal town it’s been quite a year so far, 2022 has given us quite a few surprises and so far five unwanted visitors in Malik, Corrie, Dudley, Eunice and Franklin. All five storms have left their share of structural and financial damage in their wake. These storms have also caused severe damage to drainage and sewer systems in Lytham and the rest of the UK.

Please excuse the pun, but now the storms have settled it’s time to get our lives back on track and give some care and attention to our drains.

When we ask people how they usually keep their drains free from debris over the course of the year the most common answer from them is… “Easy, I just remove the leaves and the visible pieces of debris.” That’s the Job done.

Start with Removing the debris that you can see.

Right then, let’s make a start with the glaringly obvious first step. Get yourself some protective garden gloves, strengthened ideally cloth ones and then head off to the drain containing the debris. To get started remove every single piece of rubbish and / or leaves that have gathered and are clogging up your drainage system. The perfect way to get rid of them is to drop them in your green garden bin, or if it’s only leaves and twigs why not add them to your compost bin.

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If there is a grill on any of your front or rear garden drains, these will be especially vulnerable to blockages after the quintet of recent storms that have battered the Lytham coastline with heavy rains and winds already this year and it’s only the beginning of April. The reason you may have a drain grill is really quite obvious, it is there simply to catch the excess water that comes from patios and decks to prevent excess flooding in your garden areas. This drain links to your main sewage system.

Once you have cleared the drain grill it is now a case of adopting a similar method to how you cleared the debris from your drainage grill. The best approach is to just get down on your hands and knees, remove the grill cover and get your hands dirty, just grab as much debris as you can and drop it in a bucket or bin bag for safe disposal. Removing what debris you can see and feel will help you to avoid potential future blockages, so every time you do a D.I.Y clearance of your drains you will reduce the risk of causing future long term damage to your drainage system and you can take a pat on the back for unblocking your drains.

drain unblocking lytham


Other steps you may want to take

If you are satisfied that you have taken care of all your external drain blockages then the next step is to head to your inside sinks and toilets and give them a blast with some boiling hot water and drain cleaner which will help remove any unwanted and potential drain blocking materials. Try and do this three to four times throughout the year to help keep your drainage system in tip top condition.

If you continue to have blocked drain issues then please contact Lytham Drainage on 01253 36 60 92 or email us info@drainagelytham.co.uk