We survived the great Sydney storms caused by the infamous East Coast Low at the weekend with only a little problem.
We had 118mm (4 1/2 inches) of rain on Sunday the 5th. The house stayed dry but some water got into the garage, which is a couple of steps below the house floor level. The water got in because the stormwater drain was blocked and the runoff from the garden and courtyards went down the path at the side of the house which runs by the garage.
Getting to the root of the problem.
I tried removing the blockage from the street end with a flexible rod, but this just hit a solid mass and couldn’t budge it. Of course I got soaked through doing this during the rain!
Yesterday was nice and dry so I tackled the problem in plumber mode. My probing had indicated the blockage was located somewhere between our front garden and the pavement so I dug a big hole there and uncovered the water pipe. The plastic pipe had been repaired a few years ago by a proper plumber who inserted a section of new pipe with rubber joiners at each end fixed by Jubilee clips.
As I eased off the first rubber joiner the dammed-up water came out and flooded the hole, so I had to wait a while for it to soak away. I managed to slide the joiners away from the inserted section and remove it. I found it completely blocked by a big sausage of matted grass roots that had worked their way in through a tiny gap between the rubber joiner and the pipe and had grown to monstrous size. The sausage came free with a bit of effort leaving a clean pipe. I made Jan take a photo of me at the height of my plumbing triumph.
I reinstalled the pipe and made sure the joiners were tight, then filled the hole again. I checked the flow by putting a hose down the drain in the courtyard and observing it gushing into the street. Success! I had saved us from the frightening charges of a real plumber. On the downside I had to throw away my trakky-daks. They were my third-best pair and had a couple of holes already, so I didn’t mourn their passing too much.
We were lucky in the storm – lots of areas were flooded and some houses in coastal suburbs were left teetering on the edge of the water as huge seas pounded the beaches.
So how did the grass roots get into the inserted section of pipe?
The roots squeezed through the tiny gap between the rubber joiner and the pipe and then grew inside the pipe.
Seeing the photo before reading the text, I thought I was going to hear a story about a large lizzard.
Glad you managed to unblock the drain though, I well remember my own epic struggles in similar circumstances and feeling like St. George slaying the dragon when I had succeeded !