When you’ve serviced as many blocked drains in Derby as we have, you come to regard such troublesome plumbing as a fact of life. Blocked drains are commonplace, and more often than not are relatively straightforward to rectify. The cause behind the blockage is frequently fairly normal too. However, every so often you encounter stories of some truly strange blockages that you really wouldn’t credit as being possible.
In a previous blog, we touched upon the recent incident of a blocked sewer in London that was plugged with tennis balls, but that’s far from an isolated case. Here are a few of the strangest causes of blocked drains that we’ve heard about over the years.
Toys
Children frequently ‘experiment’ with toys and plumbing, and in such situations the temptation to see if they can squeeze a toy down a plug hole can be overwhelming. Lego bricks, toy blocks, model cars and dolls are all primary culprits, and all have been found down blocked drains in the past.
Clothes
Clothes are not only disposed of down the toilet by errant children, as many adults have been found guilty of this act in the past too! Because they expand when wet, clothes will almost certainly block a drain, and items of clothing as large as jeans and dresses have all been found clogging drains.
Mobiles
When your mobile phone is in your top pocket, it can be all too easy to see it fall out; often at the most inconvenient of times. One such inconvenient time would be when you’re near a toilet, as not only will your mobile be inevitably lost, but the size of a mobile will undoubtedly block the drain too.
Animals
From live otters, frogs and badgers, to (rather shocked) household kittens and goldfish, and even sadly deceased farm animals that have fallen down open manholes, you’d scarcely credit the sort of animals that have been found at the scene of a block drain.
More
The list goes on and on, with a few of our favourites being:
- A traffic cone.
- Bicycles and prams.
- A Christmas tree.
- False teeth.
As you can see, blocked drains, pipes and sewers sometimes yield the strangest of items, and you can find out more about many of these incidents in a Deadline News article from earlier this year if you don’t believe us!
Although we’re admittedly used to dealing with rather more commonplace blocked drains than these occasions, we’re proud to say that no drainage problem is too large or small for us to tackle. If you need help with blocked drains in Derby, then we’re the people to come to, so contact us by calling 0800 195 8670, 01335 360879 or emailing roger@drain-inspections.com.
