advice needed on drains

[krislondon]

Hi there

i have come here hoping to get some advice from people who are knowledgeable when it comes to plumbing as i am not!

The problem i have is with a recurring blocked drain. IT has been unblocked several times (with chemicals such as one shot and once with a professional plumber)

However the block will slowly return, starting with a slow draining bath and eventually a complete block for the bath. This time there has been dirty water, with food (rice and bits of fish) bubbling up into the bath. We are sure this is not our food, and we are now extremly careful and have had "filters" on both bath and kitchen sink to ensure nothing goes down for several months

We live in a converted victorian house split into 3 flats. However our landlord tells me that we have our own "drain" and that the 3 only meet outside. I have lifted both drain covers in the front and back garden and found no visible sign of blockage. When i lifted the drain cover at the back garden i could see 3 "channels" meeting together.

Does this mean that we do indeed have our own drain? Any ideas on what could be happening?

Many thanks for any replies

Chris

 

[that bloke.]

try running each tap and ask someone to look at the drains to make sure they all come out of the same drain , then try the toilet. it might help if you asked your neighbours to do the same to confirm you are all on different drains.

 

[justlead1]

Hi. Its not common for each flat of a converted property to have individual soil and waste systems above ground, but possible. As the previous post suggests, checking out the complete drainage system for the house is most important before a decision as to the cause can be made. But is sounds like a blockage has occurred below your bath waste junction, and discharge from a kitchen sink is backing up the bath waste. If on the ground floor it could be a back inlet gully feed by both wastes that is blocked. Good Luck

 

[Plamber]

Seen something like this before. I think it was a big house converted into 5 flats. as the layout of the original house was slightly odd, each flat had a different layout. they too each had their own stack pipes.

But 3 of the kitchen wastes all ran into the same 3" pipe then into one of the flats stacks. do your kitchens all back onto each other? that could explain the other peoples food, but the blockage or point that gets blocked will be in your stackpipe.