Summer is – usually – a lot drier than winter, without frost and freezing temperatures. So you’d think it would be a time of year when you won’t get any problems with your drains.
That’s true up to a point.
But summer does present its own issues for your pipes, sewers, septic tanks and drainage systems.
The branches of plants grow more in the warmer weather and this is also true for their underground growth. So you may find that root damage is more likely in the summer months. Roots can exploit any weakness in your pipework, like small cracks.
As the ground dries out in the summer, and the water table drops, there’s the possibility of subsidence and ground movement. This can obviously have an effect on underground structures from your foundations to septic tanks and drains.
And often in the summer we get flash floods. The soil is very hard and compacted, meaning that water won’t drain away quite as easily. This can mean that drains have to cope with lots of rainwater run-off, and sometimes they simply get overwhelmed after a big storm.
One other summertime issue is the heat. Bacteria multiplies in hot conditions. So if your pipes are not flowing freely because of some kind of blockage where bacteria can accumulate, you might start to get nasty smells coming from your drains.
However the upside to summer is that it is the ideal season for doing any drain maintenance, before we return to the cold and wet of winter, so if you have any issues give us a call at Happy Drains on 0800 849 8099.
