What is an environmentally friendly way to combat “slow flow”?
category: Going Green
The drain in my shower has started to drain very slowly recently…after a 10 minute shower, I’m standing in 6″ of water. I don’t like it, but I also don’t feel right pouring a liter of toxic Drain-O down the drain.
So is there a more environmentally friendly way to unclog the drain? Or any other suggestions?
idk
Use a snake or calling the plumber.
Wasted water you think? Get a bucket, take it outside and water the grass or plants after taking a bath or a six inch shower.
For drains, a plunger “snake” plumbing tool should first be used to bring up as much of the clog as possible, giving cleaning products room to work, or perhaps eliminating the need for them entirely. Earth Friendly and Naturally Yours drain cleaners use enzymes, rather than caustic chemicals, to dissolve obstructions. Don’t forget to prevent future blockage with inexpensive metal or plastic drain screens, available at most home-improvement or hardware stores.
Try baking soda and water. I’ve used it in sink drains, but never a shower drain, but worth a try. Other than that, snake it out, break up whatever is slowing the drain.
We discovered that the handle that controls the stopper had an adjustment inside slip, slowing the drainage over time.
(This was after I took the screen out and tweezed hairs, then Liquid Plumber, plungers)
Had I tried to snake it I might have discovered the problem myself before calling the plumber. The snake would have stopped at the barely moved stopper inside.
Get a plumber (roto-rooter0 and they can snake it. No chemicals necessary. Or find a biodegradable chemical.
For that to be environmentally bad, 1,000′s of people would have to do it at the same time in the same area. A little chemical to clean your drain is fine, the water treatment plant will process it and clean it just fine.
I work in the environmental field-FYI
There is a tool at the home depot that you can put on the end of a garden hose to blast the residue out. Basically what happens is that it balloons out and forces water down the drain. You might want to have a second pair of eyes outside to make sire that water does not come out the vent stacks.
If it is the shower hair is the most likely culprit so a plunger is not going to move it alone but try it anyway. The answer is probably the drain-o but don’t pour a liter down the drain, push down a few times with the plunger to displace any water in the trap and pour in half a teacup of drain cleaner or caustic soda solution, leave for 1 hour and flush away the blockage with hot water and a couple more vigorous pushes with the plunger. Not the ideal solution for the environment but about 20 times more friendly than a whole liter.
Just use drano,theres no harm in it, drano max gel works great and fights through your standing water you pour about 1/2 the bottle down depending on the size bigger ones 1/4th anywho you pour that down wait 15-30 mins and you should have a clog free drain (sometimes needs anther aplication) And anytime you pour drain chemicals down your drain ,it is never a good idea to use a plunger afterwards unless you want to be wearing it on your face.Or CLR makes a CO2 cartrige that blasts air down your drain, but i heard a few people post that it blew off their trap while using, id stick with the Drano though .