Causes of Backflow in Your Sink or Toilet

Clogs that cause backups are a regular occurrence in most homes. Sometimes you can clear them through plungers, other times you will need to contact plumbing professionals to remedy the situation.

Backflow is a different problem from backup. Although less common, backflow is more worrisome: instead of plumbing what won’t run wastewater through it, the wastewater will start to come up through the sink, toilet, or shower drain, even when they aren’t being used. This is one of the most serious issues that can affect your plumbing, and it requires that call a skilled plumber in Sicklerville, NJ as soon as you to locate the cause of the backflow and stop it before your home sustains damage.
Backflow is a textbook example of a plumbing emergency, so make sure you have the number of a skilled plumber with 24/7 services available should your home ever encounter sewage backflow. SPS Mechanical Inc. is here to help you any time of the day or night.

What Can Cause Backflow to Occur?

A broken backflow preventer: The backflow preventer is a crucial component of your home’s wastewater disposal system. Most homes use gravity to move sewage from the house and into the municipal system, although ones that are lower than the entrance to the municipal sewer will need a sewer ejector pump. The backflow preventer is a check valve that keeps the sewage from flowing back into the system. Should the backflow preventer break, you will start experiencing backflow troubles throughout your home. Broken backflow preventers are serious problems that must be remedied immediately. Make the call—whatever time of day or night—to professionals to come out and handle the replacements and repairs necessary.

Sewer line damage: The sewer line that carries the wastewater from your house to the municipal system can suffer damage (especially if it is made of older material like galvanized steel), and this will cause sewage to begin to flow back inside your home. This will usually start in your basement before it reaches toilets and sinks, so watch for signs of sewage leaking from basement drains and traces of foul odors. Sewer line replacement requires extensive work from professionals.

Municipal source: Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with your plumbing; the issue lies in with the city or local sanitation district, and a backup within the system has caused the backflow into homes. Although the responsibility rests with the utility company to fix the problem, you must still call a plumber to your home to manage the clean-up and to prevent damage to your plumbing and home.

We must emphasize the seriousness of sewage backflow: it can lead to major damage to your home and require extensive restoration work if it is not halted quickly. At the first sign of backflow, give us a call anytime and the 24-hour emergency services of SPS Mechanical Inc. will send a plumber to your home in Sicklerville, NJ to fix the problem, pronto!