Clogged sewer in an apartment building, who is to blame?

If you have a clogged sewer in an apartment building, then this problem must be solved quickly, otherwise the consequences can be disastrous. We will tell you who is to blame for this situation and what measures need to be taken, for example, to prevent the first floor from flooding. If such an unpleasant situation happened to you as flooding of an apartment with a sewer, then of course it is necessary to involve a responsible person in compensating for the damage, and you are obliged to compensate for the damage, in this article we will tell you how to proceed in order, how to assess the damage and defend your rights in court

Signs of clogged sewer pipes

The first sign of a clogged sewer pipe is the slow flow of water into the system. If you drain clean water and the situation does not change, this is a sure sign that it is necessary to take measures to clean the sewer.

The second sign is the spread of an unpleasant odor throughout the house. If you do not attach importance to this circumstance, you will soon be unable to do without calling the emergency housing and communal services service or the management company.

Does the housing office have the right to turn off water?

Read how to file a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor against the management company here.

What to do if you are flooded by your neighbors, read the link:

Where to go if the drain in your apartment is clogged?

The requirements for the procedure and form for filing citizens' complaints are enshrined in Article 7 of Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2002. When filing a written complaint by mail, a citizen must indicate: the name of the government body to which he is sending a written appeal, or his last name, first name, patronymic of the relevant official, or position of the corresponding person, last name, first name, patronymic (the latter - if available), postal address to which the response should be sent, notification of forwarding of the appeal. Citizen complaints that do not contain the above data ARE RECOGNIZED ANONYMOUS AND NOT BE CONSIDERED. In the text of the complaint it is necessary to describe the essence of the violation of rights, the circumstances under which it occurred, indicate detailed information about the organization and officials on whose part the violation was committed. ATTENTION! If, after contacting Rospotrebnadzor, housing and communal services or management company specialists nevertheless went to the address of the leak and fixed it, you need to inform the last point of the complaint. You can also attach to the application to the court evidence of damage to personal property due to a leak or sewer break, if it arose due to the failure of public utilities to fulfill their duties. After eliminating the causes of the stench in the basement, unpleasant sewer odors may continue to be felt for some time. You should endure it, trying to ventilate the basement and residential apartments on the lower floors as often as possible. Useful video This video describes several reasons for the appearance of sewerage smell in an apartment, as well as ways to eliminate this problem.

Basic methods for clearing sewer clogs

Knowing the reasons why the sewer system becomes clogged facilitates the use of measures to eliminate them.

The most common ones are:

systematic audit of the sewer system. As a drastic solution, reconstruction of the sewerage system should be applied. It should be used in case of frequent blockages of the drainage system;
mechanical removal of blockage when a solid source forms in the sewer pipe;
cleaning sewer pipes with chemical solutions that destroy layers on the inner surface of the pipe.

How does clogged sewer pipes manifest?

Sewage in an apartment or house in the private sector is an important utility system. For residents of the house, it is important that the toilet works properly and that water drains quickly and without leaks from the bathtub or washing machine. If the riser or pipe in the apartment is clogged, the first signs of a problem will quickly appear.

Residents of the house will feel an unpleasant, pungent odor in the toilet area. This will indicate problems with the patency of the riser.
The fact that the toilet is clogged or the hydraulic valve is not working properly will be indicated by the cloudy water remaining in the toilet after flushing.
There may be an air lock or a buildup of fecal sediment inside the drain pipe connected to the toilet. In this case, the water from the tank will flow into the drain very slowly.

ATTENTION! When a drain is clogged, you cannot expect the blockage to go away on its own. The accumulations in the pipe will only increase, which will ultimately lead to flooding of your apartment and the premises underneath it.

When cloudy water appears in the toilet bowl,
it is necessary to clean the drain pipe .
In apartment buildings, it can be done by a home craftsman. To do this, he needs to remove the head of the fan pipe and remove the cover of the lower revision of the riser. Then, using a plumbing cable, you should break through the fan riser, removing all the debris from the audit. The next step is to restore the tightness of the sewer system section - to do this, you need to tighten the inspection cover tightly.

The work must be done with long rubber gloves to avoid getting dirty.

What to do if there is a blockage?

You can call specialists and then just wait for their arrival. However, many owners believe that “this is not our method,” and to some extent they are right. Serious situations requiring professional intervention are still rare. Therefore, if the sewer is clogged, then in some cases you can cope with the problem of “constipation” yourself.

Using hot water

The most logical solution is to try to get rid of the blockage using hot water. This method is used when water drains from plumbing fixtures, but it does so very reluctantly and slowly.

It is often possible to break through a plug of fat with the pressure of hot water. Lukewarm water will not be effective. The optimal temperature is at least 60°. The hand can withstand such degrees for only 5 seconds, but it is this ideal that we must strive for.

First, turn on the water, letting it through to the desired temperature. The tap is opened enough so that the water has time to go down the drain. Then the pressure is gradually increased. If the liquid begins to disappear in the drain “faster”, then they move on to the last stage - a salvo discharge. This is a quick drain of one or two buckets of hot water. This pressure will allow you to wash away any remaining grease from the walls of the pipeline.

Help with a plunger and toilet products

To begin saving him, two operations must be performed. First of all, they find the source of the problem, then they try to eliminate it.

First, they inspect the toilet: check to see if any object has fallen into the drain. If the reason is found, then it is pulled out. Pour 5 liters of hot water from the tap into the toilet. The temperature should not be very high so that the device does not “crack”.
Then they clean the plumbing: chemical or mechanical. All drain holes are closed, then a plunger is inserted into the toilet drain, then at least 5 liters of water are poured in and the system begins to be cleaned with sharp pushing movements.

The last step is to pour a chemical cleaner into the bowl and then rinse with plenty of water. It is recommended to do this operation regularly: at least once every few (2-3) months. By carrying out preventive maintenance even from time to time, you can prevent blockages. Moreover, it can be eliminated either temporarily or forever.

What to do if the drain is clogged and there is no plunger in the household? It is recommended to use possible alternatives.

The bottom is cut off from a 1.5-3 liter plastic bottle, then cleaned in the same way - using sharp movements.
A large rag is wrapped around a stick. Or, first place a rag in a bowl, then press it with a stick. But they are making sure that it does not become a new “plug.”

Sometimes, for greater efficiency, the plunger itself is wrapped with material, since this device is still more suitable for cleaning drains of bathtubs, sinks and sinks. Yes, this operation is not the most pleasant experience. The “rescue service” needs to know that they will first have to bail out standing water from the toilet, and the splashes that fly during such work require reliable protective equipment.

Using rope or wire

Plumbing tools are the first serious means of salvation. This product consists of the cable itself, an S-shaped handle and a tip, which is often made in the form of a spiral spring. This element allows you not only to remove blockages, but also to get rid of them by safely pulling the plug out, or pushing it into the riser, bed or comb.

However, this tool is able to guarantee results only with a small pipeline diameter - up to 50 mm. Using a plumbing cable with large sections usually does not achieve the goal: the flexible structure, when a relatively reliable plug is reached, simply begins to fold.

In this situation, it is more logical to use another device - sewer wire. It is made of steel, thickness is 5-6 mm. This tool also has a hard tip and a comfortable grip. This product is used for cleaning pipes whose cross-section is much larger - up to 110 mm.

Another option is steel tape. It is used for pipes of even larger diameter. Contraindication: plastic pipes, which can be accidentally damaged by this device. For this reason, owners are advised to “handle” wire or steel tape extremely carefully.

Both tools are used in the same way. By rotating the handle, the cable or wire (tape) is moved to the place of the blockage. Be sure to control the tension, as otherwise the product may fold into a loop. After the problem has been dealt with, the tool is removed in the same way - using rotation, and its directions are not changed so as not to miss the “caught prey”.

In any situation, blockages are cleared from top to bottom, otherwise a “fragrant” stream may pour out on the technician, which will take a long time to clean off. In exactly the same way as in the case of a plunger, the cleaning procedure is completed by rinsing with water - hot, but suitable for plumbing parting.

The sewer is clogged: what to do?

If an emergency occurs, be sure to turn off the water and notify other residents that it is impossible to use the water supply and sewerage for some time until the problem is eliminated.

The most important thing is not to panic, but to calmly and rationally take steps to eliminate it. In order to avoid accidents in the house, residents must follow the rules for using sewer systems, and housing and communal services must maintain the system in working order.

How to present your demands?

First of all, you need to notify the emergency service about the fact of an emergency and the provision of services of inadequate quality. Call the emergency dispatch service and report the accident. According to paragraph 106 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354, the consumer must report to the emergency service about the fact of a violation of the quality of the utility service, while the dispatcher is obliged to register your appeal in the log, tell him the reason for the appeal, your address and full name, also ask under what number it was registered your request and specify the name of the dispatcher, write down this data, indicate the date and be sure to save it, they may be useful to you.

Next, we record everything on a photo and video camera, all the damage, the very cause of the damage, we invite witnesses, neighbors from the lower floor so that they can see the reason, we do not remove anything, and then you need to write an application to your management organization, with a requirement to draw up certificate of damage caused by poor-quality utility services.

Write an application in 2 copies, come to your management organization and give both copies to the employee receiving incoming requests so that he can familiarize himself with them. Your copy must be marked with the incoming number, the date of acceptance, or another mark of acceptance and the signature of the receiving person, a seal is required since the Criminal Code is a legal entity. Pick up your copy and save it.

Such a statement is written in free form, the header indicates to whom and from whom, indicate your telephone number for contact, describe the situation below and invite a representative of the management organization to draw up a report on the damage caused, put a date and signature on both copies.

Based on subparagraph “K”, paragraph 31 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354, the management organization is obliged to keep records of applications, complaints and other claims from consumers regarding the quality of public services. The management organization is obliged, within 3 days from the date of receipt of the complaint, to respond to the consumer and inform about the satisfaction of the requirements or refusal to satisfy them.

A representative of the management organization should contact you and agree on a time for conducting an inspection and drawing up a report on the damage caused.

On the appointed day, a representative of your management organization will come to you and together with him you will draw up a report, which will indicate the date and time of the inspection, the reason and the violations identified, and the report will also indicate all damage resulting from flooding, be very careful to the damaged things and indicate everything and do not leave out anything; for things that are not indicated in the first act, you will not be able to receive compensation, since the court most likely will not take them into account, since it will consider that you intentionally added them to the second act, for increasing the amount of damage. It’s just that sometimes it’s necessary to draw up a second act, since after a flood, traces can appear and shortcomings can be revealed for about 1 month.

If a representative of the management organization refuses to enter something, write down these things in your list, and when signing the act, write an addition to the act, write that the representative of the management organization refused to enter this list of things and you do not agree with this and list all the things that were not included . You see, if you do not enter these things and sign the act, then in court you will no longer prove anything, because there was no pressure on you and it turns out that you signed an act in which some things were not included voluntarily, which means you agree with this document. In a word, be careful and persistent, no one limits you in your rights.

Upon completion of drawing up the act, you sign it and a representative of the management organization also signs and gives you a signed copy with dates. If they give you some other papers to sign, read them carefully and do not sign any agreements, you must sign only the act.

An act is a document confirming that a specific case of violation of the quality of utility services occurred in your apartment, resulting in damage to your property. This is the main document you need, but now you need to assess the damage from flooding!

What to do for prevention

Attention! To ensure that the sewer system in an apartment building does not become clogged, all apartment owners must adhere to the following rules:

Special meshes must be installed on the outlets of bathtubs, washbasins, shower stalls, and kitchen sinks. They prevent foreign objects from human activity from entering the sewer;
Sewerage should be used according to its intended purpose, and not as a garbage chute. Collect food waste and garbage in a special container (bucket with a lid);
Wash greasy dishes in hot water. This will prevent the formation of fatty plugs in the sewer riser;
Install the washing machine drain as far as possible from the riser. With each drain from the machine, soapy water will flush the entire sewer system installed inside the apartment;
When installing sewerage yourself inside an apartment, lay the pipes with a constant slope. Places with a counter-slope guarantee constant blockages.

Who should be responsible for replacing the sewer riser in the apartment?

General information In old houses, sewer risers and pipes in bathrooms are made of cast iron - a reliable, but not the most durable material. Sooner or later, such pipes begin to fail, after which there is a danger of leakage, pipe splitting, property damage and financial liability. In order to prevent sad consequences, the riser and sewer branches should be replaced. In such a situation, owners often make do on their own and change the riser in the apartment themselves. Not everyone knows that sewer and other risers can be replaced at the expense of the management company. Throws rags, clothes, cotton wool, cardboard, hygiene products, household and construction waste, large food waste, etc. into the sewer. All this garbage easily enters the system through the washbasin, toilet; it can only be limited by the diameter of the pipe, but it is not so easy for the garbage to pass further. a multi-meter march through sewer pipes and end up somewhere at a wastewater treatment plant.

This same garbage accumulates in turning points, outlets, wells, reduces the permeability, contaminates the chambers, and ultimately leads to blockages. There are different blockages, some are not large, which service companies can quickly remove without consequences for residents.

Larger blockages in the networks overwhelm the chambers, flow out into the yard, playgrounds, parking lots, causing inconvenience to residents, motorists, and children.

What to do if your apartment is flooded by sewerage?

First of all, let's figure out who is responsible for the sewage system?

According to paragraph 5 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated N 491, the common property in an apartment building includes the in-house engineering drainage system, which consists of sewer outlets, fittings such as transitions, pipes, revisions, tees, crosses, risers, plugs, exhaust pipes, etc. P. The meaning here is clear, sewerage belongs to common property.

But why am I doing this?

Besides, someone must bear responsibility for the common property; all owners cannot now bear responsibility for it and everyone chip in a little to compensate for the damage, that would be absurd.

How to draw up an apartment flood report correctly?

If the neighbors flooded the apartment (a complete guide to action)

It all depends on the form of house management. Since, according to paragraph 42 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491, responsibility for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building lies with the management organizations directly managing the apartment building.

That is, we come to the conclusion that if your apartment was flooded due to a clogged sewer, and this means only one thing, the management organization was negligent in its responsibilities for maintaining the common property in proper condition, then we make all claims against the management company, that is, with the organization, This is usually a legal entity that maintains your home. This can be either a standard management organization or an HOA or housing cooperative.

What if the apartment was flooded due to the fault of the management company?

Causes of blockage in the public sewer system

The reasons can be very different, they can be grouped according to the following characteristics:

wear of pipes or the use of unacceptably small diameters. Everything here is more or less clear. In this case, blockages will occur very often until the communication system is brought to working condition;
violation of laying technology. In particular, incorrect installation of pipe slopes. If the slope was small - simple, then blockages will occur periodically. The optimal degree of slope is considered to be raising the pipe by 2 cm for each meter of pipe;
Improper installation of the toilet can also increase the incidence of blockages. The use of cement during installation provokes a decrease in the diameter of the pipe, which will certainly lead to blockage;
leaky sewerage system. The entire system is designed to be self-cleaning. When a large object, say a rag, gets in, the following actions occur: it passes along the vertical riser unhindered, but as soon as it hits the horizontal pipes, its movement slows down and it blocks all passages. But immediately the water pressure begins to increase, under its action the ill-fated rag will jump out of the pipe like a cork from a champagne bottle, performing the function of a brush (collecting debris along the way). All this happens if the sewer system is well sealed. Otherwise, the rag will get stuck in the pipe for a long time;
The most common cause of blockages is residents’ careless attitude towards communications. As a result, solid household waste, rags, cellophane, papers, etc. enter the system. Which accordingly leads to an accident.

Causes of blockages

A horizontal section of internal sewerage is called a lounger. The pipe is located at a slight slope so that the water flows down by gravity. A common riser connects to one end of the lounger, and the other is connected to the exit unit. The horizontal section is the most loaded, and given its position, the passage of any debris or foreign objects through the pipe is difficult.

The main causes of deck chair blockages:

accumulation of sand and debris, which becomes the center of crystallization;
narrowing of the lumen due to the overgrowing of the pipe with mineral deposits and fatty deposits;
getting caught in a net by a large solid object.

Preventive measures

To reduce the need to contact a plumber, you should follow simple rules for using the toilet.

You cannot throw paper (except toilet paper) or construction waste into it.
Food waste, which can swell in water and create an obstacle to the drainage flow, is also prohibited.
The toilet must be installed by a competent and experienced plumber who knows at what angle the pipes are attached and how long they should be. Water from the toilet should drain freely and quickly.
An experienced, competent plumber should clean the sewer not only in the basement, entrance, but also in the apartment, if the blockage is complex. The result of improper cleaning work can be an accident that affects the entire entrance and even the house. Specialists have professional equipment that will clean the pipes from the inside, ensuring they have the necessary permeability.

Most often, the cause of a sewerage break is a careless, irresponsible attitude towards it on the part of the residents of an apartment building.

To avoid the problems described above, you should be careful and use plumbing fixtures only for their intended purpose .

Types of sewer blockages

Important! Before you begin to eliminate a sewer pipe failure in an apartment building, you should understand what types of blockages there are:

operational. Appear as a result of long-term operation of the sewer system. The causes of clogging are the accumulation of microscopic particles on the walls of the pipe. A sign is the slow flow of wastewater from the toilet, bathroom, kitchen into the sewer pipe;
mechanical. They appear as a result of foreign objects entering the sewer pipe. They create an obstacle to the movement of wastewater through the drainage system. Elimination is possible by dismantling the old pipe and installing a new one;
technological. The first is violations during construction. Pipes of smaller diameter than necessary were installed. The second is the wear and tear of sewer pipes;
siphon. The sewer system is equipped in such a way that there is always water in the siphons, which prevents odors from the system from entering the home. For various reasons, these elements of the sewer system become clogged and stop passing wastewater. Cleaning or replacing the siphon will clear the clogged sewer pipe.

Thus, having established the cause of a sewer blockage in an apartment building, you can begin to eliminate the emergency situation.

Attention! Our qualified lawyers will assist you free of charge and around the clock on any issues. Find out more here.

Elimination of blockages in the centralized sewer system at whose expense

What do we know about the drainage system of residential buildings, or what is also called the sewerage system? You can talk for a long time in technical terms, risers, cleaning, revisions, manifold, etc., but in general everything is simpler. The drainage system in multi-apartment residential buildings consists of communications made of cast iron or plastic pipes with a diameter, usually 50-100 mm, through which liquid human waste is discharged by gravity in apartments.

From apartments, through the basement and then bypassing several sewer chambers, wastewater is collected in pipes of larger diameter, and then flowing for several tens of kilometers, it ends up in treatment facilities. It's simple, but, unfortunately, many residents of apartment buildings have the impression that the liquid waste system can be used as a mini garbage disposal. Attention Regulatory documents Replacement and repair of sewer, water and heating pipes are regulated by:

How often should the management company clean/inspect the sewer riser for all 5 floors at once?

Question No. 11156449

Are there any standards?

question number No. 11156449 read 1442 times 0 Along with the topic “Sewer riser” they are also searching for:

Lawyer Russia, Rostov-on-Don Levichev Denis Aleksandrovich Rating: Reviews: 04.08.2016 at 12:15 See the contract. Housing Code of the Russian Federation, Article 162. Agreement for the management of an apartment building 1. An agreement for the management of an apartment building is concluded with a management organization that has been granted a license to carry out activities for the management of apartment buildings in accordance with the requirements of this Code, in writing or in electronic form using a system by drawing up one document signed by the parties. When choosing a management organization by a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, a management agreement is concluded with each owner of premises in such a building on the terms specified in the decision of this general meeting.

Where to go and who is to blame

applications to the Prosecutor's Office against the management company due to frequent sewer blockages free of charge in word format

Depending on the emergency situation in the sewer system of an apartment building, you should seek help from the appropriate services:

the toilet is clogged, the drain pipe has burst, the interfloor sewer riser does not allow waste water to pass through, waste is flooding the basement or the first floors of a residential building - you should immediately contact the housing maintenance office or management company to dispatch a locksmith on duty;
if wastewater begins to pour onto the surface through sewer wells, you should call Vodokanal, since this is their service area;
If sewage floods the floor of a residential building, emergency services of utility companies should be called. Telephone numbers are indicated on utility bills.

You should know that passively waiting for a team of specialists to arrive is not welcome. An accident can cause more damage if you don’t do anything yourself.

Therefore, each apartment owner who has discovered signs of an emergency with the sewerage system is obliged to warn other residents about the danger that has arisen and take measures to stop the water supply.

If the sewer is constantly clogged, the reason for this is:

negligent attitude of utility services to inspections and cleaning of sewer pipes;
the use of sewerage as a garbage chute by individual residents of a residential building.

Finding the culprits and conducting investigations into the causes of sewer blockage in an apartment building can take a long time.

ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample application to the Prosecutor's Office against the management company due to frequent sewer blockages:

Watch the video. The sewer is clogged, how to clear it:

Clogged sewerage in an apartment building: what is the reason and how to fix it - Guide Channel

The condition of sewer pipelines determines the overall performance of the system. A clogged sewer in an apartment building is a serious problem that affects all residents of apartments related to the problem drain.

It must be eliminated as quickly as possible, since the system cannot be used. At least one of the apartments will begin to flood, and the result will be a lawsuit against the culprit of the blockage. The question is capacious, far beyond the scope of ordinary plumbing tasks, so it should be considered more carefully.

What is the appearance of a blockage?

A clogged sewer riser most often results in a slowdown or complete cessation of water flow through the pipeline.

The residents of the floor at which the blockage has occurred will suffer the most - the pressure of the drains in the vertical riser will force the liquids to look for another outlet; most often, they overflow the toilet bowl and flow onto the floor.

People living on the upper floors cannot use clogged drains, but they are unaware of the problem and continue to use the systems as usual and increasingly flood their neighbors below.

Other signs of a blockage may include:

the appearance of a sharp unpleasant odor;
cloudy water in the toilet after flushing;
the appearance of air pockets or congestion of organic deposits, manifested in the slow passage of wastewater.

Other manifestations of the resulting blockage are also possible.

As soon as its occurrence has become obvious, residents of the lower floors need to notify neighbors above about the emergency situation and immediately take measures to eliminate it.

What is the reason

The causes of clogged sewers in an apartment building are most often due to improper operation of the system.

Any multi-storey building has as many risers as there are apartments on the site. They are connected in the basement into one horizontal line that flows into the yard sewer line.

The more subscribers use one line, the greater the likelihood of congestion or traffic jams.

The sewer becomes clogged for two reasons:

the appearance of fatty deposits in the pipe;
foreign objects entering the sewer system.

Fat deposits enter the internal cavity along with kitchen drains and gradually accumulate due to changes in thickness, diameter, and changes in the direction of the pipeline.

The main danger lies not so much in the layers themselves, which rarely clog pipes, but in their sticky texture. If any object, even the smallest one, gets into the pipe, it will stick and remain on the surface of the layers.

Gradually, there will be more of these objects, a plug will form, which will increase in size and one day completely block the entire cross-section of the pipe.

In addition, pipes often become clogged for the following reasons:

throwing food waste down the toilet;
throwing away cat litter;
hair or wool getting into the pipes.

If everything is more or less clear with food waste, then with cat litter a certain problem arises.

The fact is that manufacturers directly indicate on the packaging that the filler can be thrown into the toilet in small portions. Naive users do just that, and as a result they have to answer to their neighbors in court.

The called plumbers break through the complex blockage of the central sewer riser, discover the composition of the plug, and the person responsible for the ingress of foreign objects will be held responsible.

Hair getting into pipes causes a lot of trouble for residents and plumbers. They constantly accumulate in the siphons of bathtubs or showers, making it difficult for waste to escape.

If they pass further through the system and accumulate in the area of a bend or transition to a pipe of a different diameter, labor-intensive cleaning will have to be carried out to a greater depth.

Such plugs are complicated in that they cannot simply be pushed through; they must be removed from the internal cavity, otherwise there will be no useful effect from cleaning.

Incorrect installation

There is another reason for blockages - improper installation of sewer pipes. There may be a lack of slope or incorrect connection of horizontal pipelines to the vertical central riser.

Mistakes made by builders are the explanation why the sewer system in an apartment building is constantly clogged.

Due to the fault of residents, blockages occur relatively rarely, but frequent repetition of the same problem is evidence of improper installation of the sewer network.

As a result, mistakes made by builders

What consequences may there be

The consequences of clogged sewer pipes can vary. If the problematic element turns out to be an indoor lounger, then there will be a slowdown or complete stop of wastewater discharge from sinks, bathtubs or toilets. Clearing such blockages is quite simple, you can even do it yourself.

Much more dangerous is a clogged sewer in the basement of an apartment building. He actually stops operating the sewer riser while they fix the problem. All this time, the maximum troubles will fall on the residents of the first floor, who will demand compensation for damage in court. The procedure is complex, requiring a search for the perpetrators and other actions.

Sewer leaks in the basement contribute to the destruction of the foundation, the appearance of rot and mold, mosquitoes, and the spread of infectious diseases. If leaks are detected, you should immediately call specialists.

How to remove a blockage

So, the sewer riser is clogged, what should you do? You can resolve the issue yourself, or contact the management company. There will most likely be a fee for contacting the management company, although different situations are possible. There are two types of self-cleaning:

You need to break through the blockage with your own hands using special tools:

plunger;
plumbing cable.

A plunger is only effective when there is a blockage in the water seal of sinks, bathtubs or toilets. If the problem lies in horizontal pipes, a cable should be used. Mechanical cleaning methods are no less effective than chemical ones, but you have to work with a cable blindly and at random; chemical agents fill the entire internal volume of the pipe right up to the blockage and dissolve it.

Some people use various “folk” remedies - vinegar, etc. This should not be done as the harsh chemicals can destroy the cast iron riser or basement line pipes. You need to use certified products, which are abundant in stores. Typically, the cleaning composition is poured into the sink or toilet and left for a certain period of time to act on the clog.

If it turns out that the problem lies in the vertical riser, it is best to contact the management company to receive qualified assistance.

Who should do the cleaning?

Most residents are poorly oriented in administrative and legislative norms. Few people can confidently say whether the management company should clean out the sewerage system in the microdistrict or not. There are many reasons for such illiteracy; the vicious practice of careless managers of trying to shift any work onto the shoulders or wallets of the residents of the house is often to blame.

Cleaning the sewer riser in an apartment building is the responsibility of the employees of the management company, since the riser belongs to the communal property and is entirely under their control.

A paid service may be flushing or breaking through blockages in the deck, but the vertical common pipeline must be serviced by qualified specialists.

In any case, if the sewer is clogged, you need to know where to call and what to do first:

accidents in the sewer well are eliminated by the city water utility;
clogged internal sewer pipes are serviced by a UK mechanic;
emergency situations are resolved by emergency service workers.

Usually all the necessary telephone numbers are included in receipts for utility bills.

Prevention measures

To eliminate the possibility of blockages in pipes, you must follow the rules for operating the sewer system:

do not throw construction waste or paper (except toilet paper) into the toilet;
Do not pour food waste into the system;
Avoid throwing away cat litter, especially those based on clay and sawdust.

These simple rules will help maintain the functionality of the system and eliminate possible problems in relations with neighbors and employees of the management company.

review:

Everything useful about sewerage - gidkanal.ru

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Where to go if you have problems with sewerage?

It is important to know who to contact if there are breaks or clogged sewer pipes or toilets.

If there is a clog in the toilet or a pipe in the bathroom has burst and the first floor is flooding, you should call the plumbing installers of the housing department or another management organization.
Sewage wells are serviced by the city water utility. Its specialists must service the yard drainage system.
There are also emergency services. You can turn to them when you manage to clog your neighbor’s pipe and he floods several apartments. Such services respond to calls in case of emergency.
Telephone numbers of dispatch services that carry out sewer repairs and cleaning must be on receipts for utility bills.

ATTENTION! If in an emergency it is difficult to find the dispatcher’s phone number, you can dial the hotline number operating under the city administration or the rescue service. There you should provide the contact information you are interested in.

Before the arrival of the masters, you should also follow a certain algorithm. If liquid appears on the ground floor from sewer pipes or in the apartments above, in the basement, it is advisable to warn other residents and turn off the water for a while.

Actions in case of blockage

When the sewage system in your apartment is clogged, you can’t hesitate. First of all, you need to take actions to prevent further flooding:

Shut off the water supply;
Inform residents about the blockage;
Call special services.

If the blockage occurs in more than one apartment, then it is necessary to shut off the water supply in other places. Use of the sewer must be discontinued until the problem is resolved.

If you lack the skills to deal with the blockage yourself, it is not recommended. There are special services for this.

Where to go?

The use of certain services depends on the nature of the blockage:

a local blockage, a broken drain pipe or an interfloor riser that did not cause a flood - call the management company to call a locksmith on duty;
sewage overflows from wells - contact Vodokanal;
There is a global flood of the entire floor - urgently call emergency services.

Contact information for special services is contained in receipts for payment of housing and communal services. If you don’t have a receipt at hand, it is recommended to dial the general number 112 and ask for the regional service number.

Who is guilty?

After taking measures to prevent flooding, the search begins for the cause and culprits of the problem. This may take a long time. Determining who is at fault directly depends on the cause. If the blockage occurs once, then two options are possible:

the person at fault will report the problem;
Representatives of management companies will determine the guilt after inspecting the sewer system.

Specialists visit apartments and draw up an inspection report for the sewer riser. Thus, the fact of an emergency is recorded in the document. In practice, there is no need to find the culprit - the person himself declares the problem. Damage to property due to a flood must also be documented.

If the sewer drains are constantly clogged, then the reason is the poor quality of services provided by the management company. The organization ignores periodic inspection of the system. In this case, the culprit will be the management company.

The sewer system is the common property of the owners of the apartment building. Repair of risers is the competence of the management company or homeowners association. Even if a specific culprit is identified, the repairs will in any case be carried out by the organization at its own expense. This does not prevent victims from filing claims in court if property damage occurs.

Important: the only time when the responsibility for repairs falls on the owners is if citizens voluntarily installed pipes.

Form for the act of filling the apartment WORD 20.50 KB

Inspection report on the condition of in-house drainage systems WORD 27.50 KB

Complaint form to the Criminal Code regarding the flooding of an apartment WORD 9.28 KB

Example of a claim in the Criminal Code regarding flooding of an apartment WORD 9.42 KB

Causes of blockage and their consequences

Attention! The following causes clogging of the sewer system:

during the construction process, the requirements for installing sewer pipes of the required diameter were violated. That is, the system was installed from pipes of smaller diameter than provided for in the project;
ordinary wear of pipes as a result of long-term use;
horizontal sections of the sewer main were laid in violation of technology. That is, the slope at the rate of two centimeters for each meter of pipe was not observed;
During the installation of the toilet, the solution narrowed the drain, as a result of which the passage of wastewater will be difficult. And this, in turn, will contribute to the systematic clogging of the sewerage system in the apartment;
violation of the installation of sewer pipes, as a result of which the requirements for tightness of connections are not met. As a result, various debris can enter the sewer system, which will clog the pipe;
the formation of build-up and deposits as a result of the discharge of fats from dishwashers and kitchen sinks into the drain. Over a long period of operation, such waste constantly accumulates on the walls of the pipes, solidifies and crystallizes. The diameter of the sewer pipe constantly narrows and at a certain time stops passing discharges.

The main reason why sewer clogs occur in an apartment building is the negligence of the residents. The sewer system is designed in such a way that wastewater is discharged through risers from each apartment to the lower part of the house. Subsequently, they move into large-diameter pipelines, which are pumped to treatment plants.

The use of the sewer system as a garbage chute by individual careless residents leads to the fact that it becomes clogged with various rags, household waste, and personal hygiene products.

If the blockage is minor, utility services will deal with it quickly enough. However, it happens that sewage floods the basements of houses and then overflows into the local area. In such cases, the residents of the first floor suffer the most.

If a sewer blockage occurs in an apartment, the wastewater will begin to rise up the riser. As a result, it will begin to flow out of toilets, bathtubs, washbasins and flood the surface of the floors of the apartment.

It will take some time to clear the blockage. However, this will be enough for the wastewater to fill the entire apartment with an unpleasant odor and render the flooring and furniture unusable. And as a result, there is a need for a major renovation of the apartment, replacement of furniture and other unforeseen expenses.

REMINDER for residents of apartment buildings on the use of sewerage and water supply

ATTENTION RESIDENTS OF MKD!!!

Violation of the rules for using sewerage leads to frequent blockages.

Residents of your home often allow household and construction waste, personal hygiene products, rags, cat litter, contraceptives, etc. to get into the sewer system. This leads to clogged sewer pipes, unpleasant odors and flooding of apartments, basements and yard areas.

In accordance with Clause 4 of Art. 30 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation LCD
“Rights and obligations of the owner of residential premises”, the owner of the residential premises is obliged to maintain this premises in proper condition, preventing mismanagement of it, respect the rights and legitimate interests of neighbors, rules for the use of residential premises, as well as the maintenance of the common property of the owners premises in an apartment building.
In accordance with the Decree of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2003. No. 170 “On approval of the Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock”, premises owners (residents) must comply with the following rules for the use of water supply and sewerage:

a) keep toilets, sinks and washbasins clean;

b) prevent damage to sanitary fixtures and fittings installed in the apartment;

c) do not pour flammable liquids and acids into toilets, sinks and washbasins;

d) do not throw sand, construction waste, rags, bones, glass, metal and wooden objects, pet litter, diapers into toilet bowls;

e) prevent non-productive consumption of tap water, constant flow during water use, and leaks through water fittings;

f) do not use sanitary fixtures if there is a blockage in the sewer network;

g) immediately inform the operating personnel about all malfunctions of the water supply and sewerage system;

h) protect sanitary fixtures and openly laid pipelines from impacts and mechanical loads;

i) protect plastic pipes (polyethylene sewer risers and cold water connections) from high temperatures, mechanical stress, shock, scratching the pipes, paint polyethylene pipes and tie ropes to them;

j) to clean the outer surface of the plastic pipe, use a soft, damp cloth; it is strictly prohibited to use metal brushes;

k) when polyethylene sewer pipes are clogged, it is prohibited to use steel wire; plastic pipelines should be cleaned with a piece of polyethylene pipe with a diameter of up to 25 mm or a rigid rubber hose.

Please note that the sewer is not a garbage chute. They have different tasks, functions and rules of use.

In the event of sewer pipes being clogged due to the discovery of the above foreign objects in them, compensation for damage to the owners of the apartment affected by the flood of sewer drains will be at the expense of the owners of the upstream apartments of this section of the sewer system. The management organization bears no responsibility!!!

The money that you pay to the Management Company for the maintenance and repair of your common property will be spent on eliminating sewer blockages instead of providing comfortable and safe living conditions!

We hope for your understanding and compliance with these simple rules. This is in our common interests. Respect yourself and other residents of your home!!!!

How to clear the blockage yourself?

It can take a long time to decide when a sewer blockage occurs in an apartment building, who is to blame? But in some cases, you can try to solve the problem yourself.

First of all, you should carefully check whether something has gotten into the pipe drain that is blocking the passage of water.
Subsequently, mechanical or chemical cleaning is carried out. The work is carried out in several stages. First, all drain holes in the apartment are closed. Then a plunger is inserted into the toilet drain, with the suction cup facing down. The next step is to fill the toilet with water (up to 5 liters). Then you need to push the plunger up and down, also performing rotational movements with the handle.

ATTENTION! Before cleaning procedures, it is recommended to pour up to 5 liters of hot water into the toilet hole; it will soften the paper and food waste that clog the pipe.

The cleaning rules are not complicated; it is only important to carry out the process on time, without bringing the situation to a critical point. Mechanical cleaning is an effective method, as is chemical cleaning.

Plumbing service experts recommend pouring a quality cleaning product into the toilet every few months . In this case, problems with the sewerage system will occur very rarely.

What to do if the sewage system in a high-rise building is clogged?

Why do you need a siphon?

An exception would be devices that have a water supply pump, in particular a washing machine - they do not require installation on a slope. There is one more rule that I would like to mention. This is the so-called water seal.

Have you ever had to change the siphon under the washbasin and do you know what it is? A small curved part is necessary to prevent unpleasant sewer odors from entering our apartment.

Water and waste, being in the siphon, block the pipe.

You'll have to answer

Let's return to the question that was asked earlier: who is responsible for the sewer risers and who should clean and repair them. In particular, if a blockage or accident occurs on the riser in a privatized apartment, because the owner is responsible for everything that is owned.

Cleaning the sewer riser using special devices

GOST provides for the presence of shaped parts to remove blockages from the sewer:

inspections (for cleaning risers);
oblique tees or bends with plugs on horizontal network pipes;
straight tees with plugs on a vertical pipeline.

The inspection is equipped with a removable flange with a rubber seal. This is a kind of door attached to the bell pipe with bolts.

SNiP requirements regulate the installation locations of revisions:

on the first and last floors;
in five-story and higher buildings - every three floors.

Why do we need to know where the revision is? Cleaning of the sewer riser is carried out through it. We are looking for the treasured “door” on the floors located above our own apartment. And we punch a riser through it. Let's start with a flexible steel cable. It should help with minor blockages.

The diagram shows how to clean a sewer riser through the roof of a house.

The steel cable or wire (1) is fed into the riser pipe (2). Slowly and carefully push the tool down. We pass the ceiling (3) and find ourselves in the sewer riser (4). A blockage (6) is detected just below the outlet (5): an obstacle to the movement of the cable is felt.

By twisting the wire, we break through this blockage. We flush the system with water. You can feed it using a hose. If water comes out of the plumbing drain holes, the blockage has not been eliminated. In the diagram, below the floor (7), at the place where the plumbing fixtures are connected to the riser (8), there is another blockage (10).

We take the cable again and repeat the cleaning procedure. When we flush the riser with water, it should not come from the sinks and toilets. The liquid must go into the system.

Cleaning the sewer riser in severe cases

In difficult situations, the cable, as a rule, does not help. It doesn't break through the blockage. We'll have to use more radical methods:

Read Sewage system repair

1. Use a crowbar to break through the debris.

Weld an ear to the device and tie a strong cable to it. Slowly lower the crowbar from the attic into the sewer. When the device hits a blockage, lift the cable half a meter and release. Do several repetitions. If the debris sits firmly, then you need to increase the height of the device’s fall.

A heavy crowbar should break the blockage. But don’t be too zealous, otherwise you might break the riser.

2. Remove the pipe fragment for cleaning.

In a particularly hopeless case, you will have to cut out the piece of pipe where the blockage is located. It is then advisable to install an additional outlet in this place for cleaning the sewer.

3. Use an electric cable with blades.

The method is relevant when tree roots have grown into the network. All the methods described above will be useless. The electric cable is equipped with blades that cut off any interference.

Advantages:

saving time;
no need to dismantle the riser and remove the blockage manually;
affordable cost of services;
a significant increase in sewerage capacity.

The use of all methods requires special equipment and appropriate qualifications, so you are unlikely to be able to use them to clean the riser yourself.

But you don't have to do that.

Just contact the specialists of our company, tell us the essence of the problem, and they will offer you the most effective solution.

We carry out not only risers and sewer pipes, but also cold and hot water supply and heating systems. With us, you can always count on the fact that the utilities in your home will perform their assigned functions with the highest possible quality.

What to do if the sewer is clogged in an apartment building

When there is a sewer blockage in an apartment building: who is to blame, what to do and where to call - all these questions immediately arise in the mind. The most important thing is not to panic.

Try to reasonably assess the situation; if, according to your assessment, you think that the blockage does not pose a great danger, then start eliminating it yourself. If there is an accident in the bathtub, then a plunger can come to the rescue.

Pour some water into the bath, press the plunger firmly to the hole and make forward movements. As a result, the clog in the pipe will begin to move, a clump of possible particles and hair will move closer to the hole and can be easily removed.

How to properly clean a drain at home

The sewer system is a headache for many compatriots, especially those living in houses built a long time ago. From time to time, blockages inevitably occur, caused by a variety of reasons.

Most often, the formation of a blockage is largely our fault when an insoluble object gets into the drain system.

But the sewage system itself deteriorates from long-term use, the diameter of its pipes narrows, and various substances, pieces of fat and other organic elements settle on the walls.

Today we will try to figure out how to properly remove sewer blockages at home, how to clean the sewer without resorting to the help of plumbers, with your own hands, which means can be most effective: chemical or mechanical.

Mechanical methods

If the use of chemicals does not bring results, and the water in the kitchen or bathroom does not drain, you can use the classic grandfather’s method, pick up a plunger and pump the drain holes. Since ancient times, every home has had this simple device.

Hydrodynamic method

If a plumbing cable does not help in removing the blockage with your own hands, you can turn to professionals and request hydrodynamic cleaning from them. Such cleaning procedures are carried out using hydraulic equipment and allow all pipes of the sewer system to be cleaned from the inside.

The operating principle of these machines is quite simple; they create a powerful jet of water under high pressure, which pushes a special iron nozzle out of the nozzle. Moving rapidly along the pipe, the nozzle breaks through all dirt and blockages, and the water washes away any remaining dirt, leaving the pipe clean from the inside.

Pipe cleaning methods

The degree of blockage and its location influence the choice of pipe cleaning method. There are traditional methods, chemical, and mechanical methods for removing sewer blockages.

Cleaning using traditional methods

Reference! The soap that caused the jam can be poured with a few liters of boiling water. Laundry powder can handle simple jams. Fill the drain with a glass of powder and pour hot water over the drain.

Larger blockages that do not consist of dense fat or compressed dirt can be removed with mixtures that include soda:

A solution of salt and soda. Half a glass of soda and salt is poured into the drain hole, not washed off for ten hours or left overnight.
A solution of vinegar and soda. To clean with soda and vinegar, mix in equal proportions, pour into the system, block the outlet with a stopper, and do not wash off the mixture for forty minutes to two hours. Attention! While the mixture is working, it is necessary to block the entrance to the drain with a plug so that the vinegar does not evaporate, otherwise the effort will be wasted.
A solution of boiling water and soda . For 3 cups of boiling water you will need a cup of soda; pour this mixture into the pipe.
Using calcined soda. About a glass of soda is heated for fifteen minutes in a cast iron frying pan, cooled, dissolved in cold water and poured into the drain hole. Do not wash off for about two hours.

Attention! Before pouring the mixture into the sewer, it is necessary to clean and dry the hole in the drain.

Types of clogging

Conventionally, contamination of water pipes can be divided into man-made, mechanical and operational blockages. The first occurs when the integrity of the pipe is compromised.

The second is due to the entry of large-sized debris into the sewer, which clogs the pipe, and the third is characterized by the formation of an obstacle to the drains due to many years of overgrowing of the passage with sediments.

Cleaning methods

When your drain becomes clogged, you should call utility services immediately. Among them there are private, paid ones, which guarantee a high speed of solving the problem. If the blockage is small, you can remove it yourself using several methods:

Hydrodynamic cleaning is one of the most effective, in which deposits are washed away with high pressure of water. For this purpose, special units are used that create pressure up to 200 bar. This installation is capable of removing even old fat layers, firmly stuck debris, scale and dirt.
Mechanical cleaning - the use of various tools to remove blockages, such as steel wire, cable, spirals.
Pneumatic cleaning is a blow of compressed air at high speed, as a result of which the garbage plug is torn into small particles and washed out of the sewer.
Chemical cleaning is carried out by using various chemicals to break down dirt. You can do it at home by pouring or pouring the product into the clogged pipe.
You can prepare cleaning products yourself from available ingredients. These can be saline, soda solutions, citric acid, Coca-Cola and more. In serious cases, when wastewater is gushing out of the toilet or washbasin at exorbitant rates, they may turn out to be ineffective, but they will cope with minor contaminants.

Results

In the event of a serious blockage of the sewer system, resulting in flooding and significant damage to property, it is necessary to call representatives of the management company, repairmen, and plumbers, eliminate the contamination and record the consequences.

You can remove small blockages yourself by purchasing chemicals at the store or preparing solutions at home.

It should be remembered that timely preventive measures, monitoring the operation of the sewerage system and proper handling will prevent breakdowns and eliminate negative consequences.

Causes of clogging

There are several reasons for clogged toilets or sewer pipes.

The most common is throwing leftover food, even small ones, down the toilet. Food may not dissolve in the water and may become stuck in the drain hole. A trash can should be used for leftover food.
Another bad habit of apartment owners is pouring cat litter into the toilet. There are especially many problems with sand and clay fillers.
Gradually, hair and cat fur can accumulate in sewer pipes. A pipe clogged with them can create many problems for the resident of the house.

In an apartment building, the sewer system may become clogged due to improper pipe laying or wear and tear of the pipeline system . Pipes of small diameters that are not suitable for sewerage can also be installed.

ATTENTION! Sometimes houses do not have background risers installed. In this case, a check valve is required in the sewer system. Thanks to it, the air lock will come out when draining the water. If there is no air valve near the toilet, water will flow through the pipes very slowly, resulting in deposits on the walls of the pipes that block the flow.

If the apartment is flooded with sewage, you should find out exactly the cause of the accident. When it happened due to the fault of the builders, it will be possible to obtain compensation for damaged property in court.

As judicial practice shows, the injured party must have documented evidence that the sewerage break occurred through no fault of its own.

Sewerage clogged in an apartment building: consequences

The consequences of a blockage in the sewer of an apartment building can be disastrous not only for the owners of the apartment in which the accident occurred. This could be a broken toilet or burst pipes.

Water from the sewer system may flow into the basement, causing the odor to spread throughout the house. Stagnation of sewer water in the basement will lead to the destruction of the foundation and damage to other communication structures.

In addition, in a putrefactive environment, various bacteria will multiply, which negatively affect human health.

Sewage cleaning in apartment and private buildings

Cleaning a toilet, or rather a riser sewer pipe, seems to be quite a difficult task if you do not have professional equipment at your disposal. In this case, removal of the toilet is required, which is accompanied by such unpleasant moments as damage to the floor tiles and depressurization of the silicone.

Flushing a clogged drain

All these troubles can be avoided if you seek the help of professionals who have special tools at their disposal.

Sewer pipe cleaning

One of the complex processes is cleaning sewer pipes. For this work you need to have a special hose that is connected to a powerful compressor.

Plumbers also use plumbing cable. The pipe must be cleaned thoroughly and efficiently; if it is constantly clogged, the causes of the blockage should be identified.

IMPORTANT! If the toilet is characterized by constant blockages, it is better to replace independent actions to eliminate the problem with professional help. Perhaps the problem is more complex and requires a qualified approach.

When using a cable for cleaning, you need to open the revision, insert a plug into the riser, which closes the higher section of the pipe. Then the hose is inserted using reciprocating and rotating movements. Using the same movements, the toilet drain hole is also cleaned. After cleaning, carefully wipe the hose pipe.