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Published on Leave a comment on Are Blocked Drains a Mammoth Task? Not With a CCTV Drain Survey

Recently workers digging up a drain near Mexico City discovered the fossilised remains of a mammoth. These dated from around 14,000 years ago. In terms of blocked drains, a mammoth would be quite an obstacle. You might think it unlikely that drains might contain large blockages without it being obvious, but in fact drains can accumulate large amounts of debris and waste over time. This is why the contemporary technological solution of a CCTV drain survey can prove invaluable.

 

The Tip of the Fatberg

Fatbergs are lumps of congealed fat and household waste, which accumulate in the sewer system. In 2015 a lump 40 metres long was discovered in a sewer in London. Essentially consisting of compressed wet wipes and cooking fat, the fatberg was so big it had broken the sewer.

This is an extreme example, but household waste gathers into smaller fatbergs all the time in drainage systems. Fat can coat the inside of drainage pipes, reducing their normal diameter, and therefore their efficiency.

This kind of disruption to normal drainage systems can occur over time, with a gradual build-up of blockages. However, the warning signs can appear early on, if drainage begins to seem less efficient.

 

The Benefits of Advance Knowledge

Having a CCTV drain survey gives you certain key benefits:

  • it enables you to find out in advance of commissioning any work, exactly what issue there are with your drains
  • it provides you with clear, documentary evidence, and can indicate the right course of action to take next; and
  • it’s very cost-effective, both in terms of manpower and potential disruption.

 

The process of a CCTV drain survey involves us sending cameras into your drainage system to record the condition of your drains. This is both evidence-gathering and diagnostic, providing us with vital information about the following:

  • the precise locations of where your drains run;
  • the size of the pipework;
  • the condition of the internal pipework of your drains;
  • any otherwise hidden connections; and
  • any defects to the pipework.

 

Once we have the results, we can compile a full report about the state of your drains, the CCTV footage on a DVD, and a recommended course of action to remedy any problems or defects.

We can give you peace of mind by providing you with the right kind of information about your drains, and we can detect problem areas before they cause significant disruption to you.

Whether you’re a household, a business or other organisation, having a proper functioning drainage system is vital to your day-to-day life. Contact Drainage Consultants today to find out more about how a CCTV drain survey can help you.

Published on Leave a comment on If it’s Sinkhole Season, What About Drain Surveys?

Sinkholes seem to be on the increase in the UK and some of them are the result of human activity as well as persistently wet weather. Periods of prolonged heavy rain or flooding are most likely to expose these holes, when water gradually dissolves around soluble bedrock, but also the sudden drainage of groundwater can make them happen. Alongside these natural causes, deterioration of manmade, underground sewage pipes can also cause sinkholes.

Clearly the appearance of a sinkhole is an obvious visual clue to there being something wrong, but a drain survey can have a part to play in ensuring that drainage networks don’t reach the stage of deterioration where sinkholes can occur.

Smaller, but Inconvenient All the Same

Although sinkholes in the UK are generally not more than a few dozen feet deep, they are, nonetheless, an inconvenience, and can be an indicator that drainage or sewage systems are in decline.

Sinkholes can open up nearby large building developments because of water being prevented soaking into rock and instead running off into surrounding land – another example where poor drainage is a big contributory factor.

Rapid Response

A drain survey is an essential tool in tackling drainage issues because it can help ascertain issues before they cause serious disruption. Drain surveys also help with a rapid response in the detection and diagnosis of drain problems, which is a real benefit if things have got to the sinkhole stage.

Sonar drain tracing and CCTV cameras are essential components of the state-of-the-art drain survey. They minimise the environmental impact while providing a detailed view of what’s going on underground.

When we undertake a drain survey on behalf of our clients, we thoroughly assess the local drainage network using this technology. Where we’ve come across drainage problems, or deterioration in the network, we provide a clear set of recommended actions, based on a full report, which includes a DVD of the CCTV footage taken.

 

A drain survey isn’t simply a nice to have added extra: it’s essential in dealing with drainage issues, whether preventing them or fixing them.

Published on Leave a comment on Care and Attention: Our Drainage Investigation

If you’re told you need a drainage investigation does the prospect fill you with dread? Perhaps you’re anticipating a great deal of disruption and disturbance. You should be aware, however, that in fact we can conduct a drainage investigation in such a way as to cause minimum disruption, and in fact, by having a drainage investigation, you’re more likely to avoid damage and disturbance at a later date.

Saving the Day

Drainage problems can often be best approached sensitively. What this involves is diligent investigation and a proper assessment and analysis of the symptoms presented. For example, interior damp patches and unexpected puddles may come from hidden damage to drainage culverts. If rainwater is gathering in pools, rather than draining away, this is an ideal opportunity to use CCTV technology to survey the drainage system.

The drainage investigation is done with precision, using state-of-the-art technology, in order to be able to accurately detect the source of drainage problems. We may have to excavate to expose drainage deterioration, but a CCTV drain survey will ensure that we have all the information to hand before doing so. This is like surgery for utilities, using knowledge and professional techniques to get to the heart of a problem and fix it.

 

Access All Areas

Using technology to detect drainage problems means we can get into places where otherwise there might be an issue regarding potential disruption. Technology has increased the effectiveness of drainage investigations while decreasing disturbance.

We have even worked on holy ground, where we’ve provided new pipework following very sensitive excavations. In this instance, we consulted the church and had discussions on the nature of the required work and how best to proceed. These discussions eventually included on-site advice and help from both an archaeologist and a priest.

Drainage investigations can sound like trouble, with the potential for extensive digging-up. But in reality, much of the work involves CCTV and sonar drain tracing, minimising any disturbance, while giving us valuable information in order to be able to carry out remedial and preventative work effectively.

Published on Leave a comment on Buildings Insurance: How a Drain Survey Helps

A drain survey is a diagnostic tool, but it also is an important measure in preventing the worst from happening. It can give reassurance to insurers and property owners that the local drainage network is working, and it can provide crucial information should an insurance claim arise. So when it comes to buildings insurance, the drain survey has a key role to play.

 

Are You Covered?

Faulty drains can have a serious affect on a building, with, potentially, complete failure of the drainage system and subsidence, damaging the foundations. You can be covered for this providing you have ensured the regular maintenance of your drainage system. But making a successful claim can be something of an uphill struggle. There are frequently a substantial number of issues to address and you may have many technical questions around drain failure and drainage to answer.

The drain survey can, therefore, be of real assistance. It will give you the right level of technical information about your drainage system to be able to successfully submit a claim under your buildings insurance.

It’s important that you have real substance to your claim, and the drain survey will be able to provide this, and satisfy your insurer’s demands for information.

 

What Will a Drain Survey Do?

A drain survey will be able to locate trouble spots in drainage systems: areas where the pipework is degraded, or where tree roots have caused damage. If there are, or have been, blockages, the drain survey will pinpoint where, and indicate contributing factors to damaged drains.

When it comes to deciding what remedial action to take, the drain survey will be able to give you a clear indication what will be required.

We look at all the survey data we’ve gathered, including the actual CCTV footage, and it allows us to put forward an accurate quotation for any essential work we’d need to do on your behalf to put things right. All this is essential for a buildings insurance claim.

If your insurer requires a building subsidence report, we can provide this, along with the full drain survey report. We’re in the business of detection and diagnosis, and experts at carrying out remedial and preventative work. Let our drain survey be your starting point to getting things sorted out.

Published on Leave a comment on Can a CCTV Drain Survey Help Your Business?

Can a CCTV Drain Survey Help Your Business?

You might not think of drains as being essential to your business, but it’s more than likely that they are. In fact, if you do run a business, there is likely to come a time when you have issues with your drainage. Drains have to face a lot of wear and tear, and some drains are very old. If you’re having a refurbishment or fit-out you might need to ensure your existing drain network will be up to the changes you’ve got planned. This is why a CCTV drain survey can be a real business asset.

 

What is the True Cost of Your Drains?

What would be the cost implications of not maintaining your drains? For example, if you’re a retailer then blocked drains are going to have some sort of noticeable impact on how you conduct your business. The smell alone may well put your customers off. Also, there are serious health and safety implications for businesses with drains that aren’t functioning properly.

You may be faced with a situation where something is wrong but you don’t know what it is. It may be that your drainage issues are there but not yet actively disruptive. The sensible thing to do is to act and not wait, because putting things off is only going to result in the problem becoming much, much worse, and therefore costing you more to fix.

Say your business is moving to new premises and you want to have it thoroughly refurbished first. Think about checking the existing drainage network to ensure that whatever your plans, you won’t end up with a bill to fix utilities you’ve disrupted or damaged in carrying them out.


Is a CCTV Drain Survey the Answer?

How do you find out the state of your drains without major disruption? The answer is using state of the art CCTV technology to explore the drainage network. Think of it as part of your business planning. Banks and building societies often insist that a drain survey takes place before they release funds to businesses relocating.

Our survey will provide you with all the details you need and, should you need to take action, we’ll have the right plan for you. We can provide a same-day quote and we offer a quick turnaround for your drainage report, based on the CCTV footage we take.

Act now, and ensure a smoother future for your business with a CCTV drain survey.

Published on Leave a comment on How a CCTV Drain Survey Helps the Strategy of Building Work

If you have a major refurbishment or building project on the go, you want to have things planned well in advance. There will be various elements involved, maybe some renovating and retrofitting, and you’ll require a clear idea of materials required and what sort of contract work will be needed. But from a strategic viewpoint, you may also need to have a clear idea about what you’re planning to build on. This is where a CCTV drain survey proves invaluable.

 

How Does a CCTV Drain Survey Fit In?

 

If any part of your refurbishment or building work will involve you having to build over sewer pipes or a drainage network, then you need to know what you might find beneath ground. It is often the case that existing plans, though available, are not up to date. Drainage networks evolve and are subject to changes over time. These may have not been recorded.

What are the implications of starting your work without having this up to date knowledge? You might have a set of robust costings for materials and man-hours, along with a tight schedule to meet milestones and deadlines. However, should something go wrong, involving damage or disruption to utilities, this is going to throw your project off-course. Having the proper, prior knowledge is vital to the successful completion of most building projects and a CCTV drain survey can have a major part to play in this.

 

Accuracy and Cost Effectiveness

 

CCTV technology is a proven means of providing accurate, up to date drainage information. It’s cost effective in terms of efficiency and effort, and as an investment in helping keep major building projects on track, it provides real added value.

For certain public sector building tenders, accurate drain mapping is essential in order to fulfil environmental regulations at the pre-qualification stage, which again makes CCTV drain surveys key to success in the competitive construction sector.

We bring clarity to drainage networks. Our CCTV data contributes to our fully comprehensive drainage reports, schematic plans and survey sheets. And we include a DVD of the footage itself.

Be prepared, and ensure you have all the latest knowledge of the drains and sewers you’re planning to build on. Contact Drainage Consultants today to arrange a CCTV drain survey.

Published on Leave a comment on How We Use Drain Tracing to Solve your Drainage Problems

Drains are not always easily accessible, but we need to know what’s down there in order to plan the right solution for your drainage problems. Not all drain blockages or problems are simple to detect, and there can be the additional risk that extensive drainage repairs might disrupt other utilities or pipework. So in these situations we use sonar drain tracing to gather information.

What Does Drain Tracing Involve?

With drain tracing, we transmit electrical pulses through the drainage network using specialist sonar drain tracing equipment. Our team then follows the electrical transmissions with a receiver. This method means we pick up on issues such as blocked or damaged drains or blockages, and locate drainage network features such as concealed manholes.

We analyse the data we gather from drain tracing, and this helps us build an accurate picture of the local drainage network. The whole procedure saves time and money, while giving us a crucial advance warning of any likely obstacles we’ll come up against when it comes to drain repairs.

Other Benefits

Plans of drains and utilities can often be out of date, and builders need to know where they can safely build, and what hidden difficulties they might face. Drain tracing can help us map out the whole drainage network and provide a clear idea of where pipes have been laid, and where concealed manhole covers and inspection chambers are located.

Drain tracing is also beneficial when it comes to pricing up work and giving accurate estimates to our customers prior to commencing a job. Ultimately, drain tracing saves you more than it costs you in the first place, because it enables us to get real clarity about the work required before embarking on it.

Using state of the art technology to help solve drainage problems is very much what we’re about at Drainage Consultants. The right procedures and the right tools to do the job are at the centre of how we work, and the great results we achieve for our customers.

Published on Leave a comment on Steady Does It: How Careful is a Drainage Investigation?

No one likes disturbance, least of all when it involves your home or property. The worry when it comes to drains is that inspecting them will then result in contractors digging things up and leaving a trail of disruption. However, it may surprise you when we tell you how hassle-free, and careful, a drainage investigation can be.


Why Have a Drainage Investigation?

In an ideal world, your drains would function well without any trouble. But like many things, they are subject to wear and tear, and damage over time. You might encounter the symptoms of a damaged drain without realising what they mean. For example, interior damp patches, or outdoor pools of water gathering even when there has been no rainfall, are signs that all is not well with your drains.

Now these symptoms might be something you feel you can live with, but like suffering nagging pain from a persistent injury, they are sure indicators that you’ll need to take action eventually. Generally the rule is the sooner the better. Drainage problems, if left alone too long, are likely to escalate into something seriously disruptive.

Even when the fault doesn’t immediately affect you, such as happens sometimes with a collapsed drain, the long-term effects can be catastrophic. Subsidence, for example, results from wastewater persistently leaking into the surrounding ground from a damaged pipe.


How Trouble-free is It?

We employ various non-invasive methods for a drainage investigation. A CCTV drain survey can provide us with valuable visual data about your drains and when combined with sonar drain tracing, builds up a comprehensive picture of the drainage network.

We may follow this detective work with some preliminary excavations to expose the problem, much like exploratory surgery. The key is for us to be able to accurately diagnose the drainage problem before committing to a full programme of work.

By following a proper investigative and diagnostic process, we can usually minimise the amount of disruption you’re likely to face when it comes to taking remedial action.

We make our drainage investigations as non-disruptive as possible, and we work to ensure your drains are functioning the way they should. Contact Drainage Consultants today to find out more about our services.

Published on Leave a comment on Who Looks After Public Sewer Connections?

Your property may not be connected to the public sewer network, if it’s a recent development. You might think of public sewers as utilities on a grand scale, which don’t have anything to do with you. However, it is your responsibility, when it comes to public sewer connections, to arrange to have your property connected.

 

Who is Responsible for What?

 

Sewerage companies are responsible for the public sewers. They have certain rights of access, covering private gardens where sewer pipes cross. This means if the sewerage company needs to do work on the public sewer where it falls on your land, they would normally take care of this.

 

But the drains and private sewers carrying household waste are the responsibility of the householder or landlord whose property it is. It is the private individual’s responsibility to arrange the connection of the local network to the public sewer. Where the household waste connects with the public sewer marks the boundary, and indicates where the individual’s responsibility begins.

 

How Do You Apply for a Public Sewer Connection?

 

To connect your property to the public sewerage network, you have to apply for a connection in order to comply with Section 106 of the Water Industry Act. The reason for this is to safeguard the integrity of the public sewerage system by ensuring there are no unauthorised connections to it, releasing anything into it, which might disrupt or damage it.

 

The most straightforward way of doing this to find a qualified contractor who will do the work for you. In this way, you retain control over the work in terms of when it happens. Make sure you have all the work planned in advance, with proper plans submitted by your contractor on your behalf to your utilities provider.

 

We have the specialist professional experience to carry out this work for you quickly, efficiently and with the minimum of fuss. We’ll complete the necessary certification and make arrangements for the Water Authority to inspect our work. It’s your responsibility, but we can make it trouble-free for you.

 

Contact Drainage Consultants today to find out how we can help with public sewer connections.

Published on Leave a comment on Will a CCTV Drain Survey Come to Your Rescue?

If your drains are in a poor condition this can cause you serious problems, even if, at present, you’re not experiencing any actual inconvenience. Damaged or degraded drains are a disaster waiting to happen. A most effective means of discovering what’s going in in your drains, and what you need to do about it, is a CCTV drain survey.

 

Don’t Put Health and Wealth at Risk

If you’re a landlord or a business owner, poor drainage is a liability. There are health and safety issues where drains are concerned, and duty of care you have a duty of care to your tenants, or your employees. Also, if you have a business you can end up facing unscheduled downtime from drainage issues, particularly if your property floods as a result.

Furthermore, if you run a shop, or a business where customers or clients visit you on-site, persistent foul-smelling drains aren’t going to do much for your professional reputation.

In short, drainage problems are costly for a whole variety of reasons, some beyond the actual cost of fixing the problem.

 

How a CCTV Drain Survey Can Save the Day

A CCTV drain survey is a way of detecting any weaknesses or problem areas in your drains. It also indicates how best to remedy them. These surveys are cost effective, and they allow us to precisely assess what sort of condition your drains are in.

You may find the symptoms of a blocked or damaged drain are at first little more than an inconvenience, but these symptoms, if left undiagnosed, will more than likely grow into to something much more serious. The CCTV drain survey will reveal any weaknesses or problem areas that are likely to become seriously troublesome if left untreated.

 

Don’t be put off by the thought of investing in an investigation: the amount you spend now on a CCTV drain survey is likely to save you money in the future, and help you avoid the inconvenience and anxiety of your drain problems escalating into a full-blown crisis.

Published on Leave a comment on How a CCTV Drain Survey Exposes Hidden Lifestyles

We all know about the sensational aspects of CCTV exposure, from bad behaviour to criminal activity and beyond. But what might a CCTV drain survey uncover about you, should you need one?

What Goes Down the Drain But Shouldn’t?

The thing about drain is, they’re so convenient. You can flush any number of things down the sink or toilet and away they go, out of sight, out of mind.
Or are they?

Drains are not meant to accommodate all and every kind of waste. Many items, if put down the drains, will simply clog them up, either through time, or almost immediately, depending on what they are.

An obvious culprit is cooking fat. If you pour grease from food straight down the drain it doesn’t simply flow away, even if you run the tap. It gradually coats the inside of your drains, narrowing them and making them less efficient. Eventually, if you’re unlucky, this can congeal into a fatberg, which is as unpleasant as it sounds, with potentially dire consequences for your drainage.

Also, food waste and scraps can build up in drains, particularly food that expands with water, such as pasta. Coffee grounds are another cause of blocked kitchen drains.

Hair is another one of the usual suspects. We can’t do much about hair, it’s just something we’ve got, and it sheds in the shower and bath and end up going
down into the drain. Enough hair will clog a drain if left untreated (the drain, not the hair).

Cotton balls, swabs and pads frequently head drainwards. These items are not designed to be disposable in this way, and will eventually clog up the drains if you insist on flushing them down the loo.

There are plenty of disposable products that are just not always as disposable down the drain, such as baby wipes. It’s also worth noting that the performance of disposable products may be dependent on the actual state of your drains in the first place. So check before you flush. This is true of that particularly thick, luxurious toilet paper that appears so tempting in commercials and on the supermarket shelf.

A number of what supermarkets refer to as “unexpected items” also find their way down drains, such as items of clothing, packaging and children’s toys.

A final health warning: cigarette butts can also block drains.

 

CCTV reveals all

Whatever is blocking your drain, a CCTV drain survey is one way of detecting the cause of the problem.

A word of warning, however: whereas CCTV is invaluable in finding things out, and will certainly come in handy in detecting drainage problems, it may reveal some of your household habits, when the various things that ended up down your drains are captured on camera.

 

Don’t be put off though: we’re here to help, and anyway, you get to keep your own DVD footage of the CCTV drain survey, if only to remind you not to put the same things down the drain again.

Published on Leave a comment on Drain Tracing: When High Tech Goes Underground

If you think drainage is all just about holes in the road and heavy duty work, think again. Drain tracing is a hugely important element in sorting out drainage problems and it involves state of the art technology.

When is Drain Tracing Used?

How accurately mapped out is the drainage network. Drain networks change over time and plans are not always up to date. For issues around building over sewers, or other utilities, drain tracing can play a vital part in any preliminary work. It’s also an essential diagnostic tool for examining drainage problems.

Drains are prone to damage and deterioration from a number of external factors, including the incursion of tree roots. A collapsed drain may not immediately present itself as a problem, but it can have severe consequences for buildings, including subsidence.

It’s important, therefore, to have an effective way of detecting long and short-term drainage problems without resorting to large-scale exploratory excavations at the outset. This is what makes drain tracing both efficient and cost effective.

How Does Drain Tracing Work?

Sonar drain tracing is a practical application of technology for problem-solving diagnostics. Using electronic pulses, we can accurately detect any problem areas in the drainage network and gives us the necessary information to help build up an accurate plan of the drains. This mapping is then a useful future resource for maintaining accurate drainage plans.

Often used alongside a CCTV drain survey, drain tracing is one of a whole range of services we provide in order to get to the bottom of a drainage issue. Whether this is to prevent or repair drainage problems, or simply to gather information about your drains, we are fully equipped to detect and diagnose damage, deterioration and other issues, regardless of the age or complexity of a drainage network.

In short, we don’t just rely on one thing. Drain tracing is one key service alongside many others. We’re Drainage Consultants, with the right tools for any job, and the right technical support to get the job done.

Published on Leave a comment on Unmasked! How Drain Tracing Reveals Hidden Problems

If you can’t see something, fixing it is that much harder. Problems with drains can be problematic for precisely this reason. Drain tracing is one key method of investigating areas and pinpointing faults that would otherwise be difficult to locate.

What Does Train Tracing Involve?

Used in conjunction with a CCTV drain survey, drain tracing is a high tech method using electronic pulses, allowing us to accurately find where problem areas are in drainage systems. The drain survey’s visual record of the drains will reveal the condition of the system; high tech mapping through drain tracing narrows the investigation down.

State-of-the-art sonar tracing equipment helps us locate drains and sewers, discover blockages and collapsed drains, and means we don’t have to do any digging for diagnostic purposes.

Location, Detection and Prevention

Drain networks are not always accurately mapped; and on occasion original drainage plans are out of date. When building works are scheduled, drain
tracing can be an essential preliminary activity in order to determine drain and sewer locations.

With drainage problems, drain tracing is a bit like exploratory keyhole surgery: it’s an effective means of detecting issues and building up an accurate picture of them, in order for us to be able to plan remedial action.

Drain tracing can also be a crucial way of getting an early understanding of drain deterioration in a drainage network. If there are symptoms of a collapsed drain, for example, sonar drain tracing will provide the necessary confirmation.

Our Range of Services

There is no single method regarding drainage work: we employ a variety of techniques, processes and procedures to ensure we can meet our customers’ needs. What we offer is a service that will investigate, diagnose and remedy a range of drainage problems. Drain tracing is an essential part of this service.

We understand how vital it is for us to be prepared for whatever drainage issues come our way, which is why we offer a full drainage service, employing a key team of specialist technical staff with the equipment to match.

Published on Leave a comment on Public Sewer Connections: Why You Might Need One

Probably when you think about public sewer connections, if you think about them at all, you imagine work to do with large-scale utilities and therefore something that doesn’t concern you. However, when you move into a new property, it’s your responsibility to ensure that it’s properly connected to a public sewer.


What Must You Do First?

It’s up to you to ensure that your property is connected to the public sewer,
from its boundary. If you require a direct connection, as the property owner
you have the responsibility for the pipework running from the demarcation chamber into your property. You will also need to pay the cost for providing this connection.

The first thing you must do is make a formal application to your local utilities provider for permission to connect to the public sewer. The reason for this is to protect the public sewerage system by only allowing authorised connections to it.

How to Get the Work Done

The good news is that you have a greater degree of control over the situation than you might have thought. If you’ve made the private decision to apply for a public sewer connection, you can then choose your own contractor to carry out the work on your behalf.

You’ll need to do a bit of forward planning: when you’ve chosen who is going to do the work, you’ll need to submit the plans to the Water Authority for approval before any work commences.

Choose an experienced contractor

Drainage Consultants Ltd has a huge amount of experience and expertise in this area. We have a number of different, approved methods for completing public sewer connections and we’ll ensure that wherever your location and whatever your property’s circumstances, you’ll have a safe, reliable connection.

Once the work is completed we’ll arrange for a Water Authority Inspector to look at it.

Choosing the right experienced contractor is your way of ensuring that the work to connect you to the public sewer is trouble-free, professionally completed and certified.

Published on Leave a comment on Can a CCTV Drain Survey Protect Your Wealth?

We know all about CCTV being used for security purposes. It has a clear purpose in protecting property, and people, from criminal activity, and in gathering and recording data to help keep people, businesses and homes secure. What you might not realise is that a CCTV drain survey has its own role to play in protecting your assets.

Where’s Your Wealth Invested?

For many people the answer is: property. You may not have bought your property principally as an investment, but regardless, with the UK’s current chronic property shortage and rising prices, your home is very likely to increase in value at a considerable rate.

It stands to reason then that you should be making sure your home is maintained. Most of us like a comfortable, clean space to live in, but what about your utilities such as heating, water supply, and drainage? These are essential aspects of modern life that only get our attention when something isn’t right with them.

Protecting Your Home

It doesn’t have to mean an all-out crisis for there to be something wrong with your drains. You may have noticed that your water isn’t draining away as efficiently, or that there’s a lingering bad smell in the air. The fact is, anything indicating something wrong with your drains really should be investigated, because it won’t resolve itself. The longer you leave it, the worse it will get.

If, for example, you had a collapsed drain, this might not be evident from how your water drains away, but it could be leaking steadily into the ground, ultimately affecting your home’s foundations.

When It’s Time to Move On

The CCTV drain survey is becoming an essential component in the buying and selling of property. Increasingly, surveyors advise their clients to have a drain survey completed.

Mortgage lenders and insurance companies may request a drain survey before releasing funds. The survey will accurately pinpoint any drainage defects, including structural deterioration, mis-connections, and locations of manholes
and inspection chambers. It can also detect if there is rat infestation within a drainage system.

Knowledge Helps, Action Protects

The news about your drains may not be what you want to hear, but it’s always best to know, because then the right remedial or preventative action can
be taken.

Drainage Consultants provides a full range of drainage services, including CCTV drain surveys. We’re here to protect what you own.

Published on Leave a comment on Is Your New Property Properly Connected for Waste? Public Sewer Connections

Don’t make assumptions: if you’re moving into a new property you need to ensure that it’s properly connected to a public sewer. Clearly, when it comes to moving into your new home, you want to have all your utilities connected and working and public sewer connections are an essential part of this. The onus is on you to ensure that there is a connection from your property’s boundary to the public sewer.

If this is a direct connection, you will need to pay the cost of providing the connection and as the property owner, you’ll have the responsibility for the pipework from the demarcation chamber into your property. In order to have this work carried out you must first apply to your local utilities provider. This has to be a formal application so that the utilities provider can protect the public sewerage system by monitoring and approving any work that may affect it.

However, the choice remains yours when it comes to getting the work done. If you choose to find your own contractor this will give you more control over when the work take place, and how much you pay for it. The key thing is to use a contractor with the right professional experience and credentials, and who will provide the correct documentation on completion of the connection works.

What you want is for this to take place as seamlessly as possible, with the minimum of disruption to your home and with nothing left for you to worry about.

Which is exactly the kind of service we offer at Drainage Consultants. We understand that it’s your home, your property and your concern that nothing is left to chance and that we can complete all the necessary certification for you so that your work meets the standards of the Water Authority when it comes to inspecting the completed work.

It’s not always easy ticking the things off your to-do list when you move house, but we’re here to make at least some of it that much easier.

Published on Leave a comment on What are the Causes and Signs of a Collapsed Drain?

We use drain tracing to investigate and diagnose some drainage problems, particularly if access is going to be a problem and we need to avoid disruption to essential pipework or utilities. Often we encounter damage because the drain has collapsed.

What are the main causes of collapsed drains? This can occur due to changes over time rather than a single, catastrophic event. Ground movement can lead to pipes misaligning and eventually breaking. Drains on properties may be closer to the surface than main public sewers, which makes them more susceptible to the effects of surface shifts or instability in the ground.

Another cause of collapsed drains are tree roots. In these situations the roots enter the drain system through pipe joints, or through cracks in the drain that have appeared over a long period of time. The problem is that the condensation on pipes, or even leaking moisture, attracts tree roots. They can also find their way to drainpipes via excavation trenches originally dug to lay pipework in the first place. Properties located near to trees, or with trees inside their boundary, are more susceptible to this kind of damage.

What are the signs that you might have a collapsed drain? You might see ground depressions or unexpected and inexplicable damp patches on your driveway or in your garden. You may not notice anything different in how your water drains away because the fault is further along from your house. However, a collapsed drain unattended can have serious consequences.

Water leaking from a damaged drain washes away the surrounding soil, which can then undermine building foundations. Subsidence is a serious problem, which can cost a lot in money, time and effort to put right.

Sonar drain tracing is a key technique in spotting and analysing drain damage. We use professional drain tracing equipment to give us a clear picture of your drain network and any faults or deterioration. We can then use this
to fix issues or take preventative action to ensure you don’t suffer from a collapsed drain.

If you have any doubts or concerns over your drains, don’t hesitate and call Drainage Consultants today.

Published on Leave a comment on Why CCTV is Key in Drainage Detection

The drain is the scene of a crime. Something has gone badly wrong, systems have failed and the consequences are hideous: foul sewage water has backed up. There’s a lot of mess and the smell really isn’t too pleasant either. You can try putting chemicals down there, you can even poke about using a wire coat-hanger, but in the end, in your heart of hearts, you know it’s time to call in
the experts.

So the drainage detectives pull up at the scene of the crime. You’ve given them the lowdown on what to expect, but the thing is, drains are hidden. Like you, they can see, and smell, the symptoms of the problem, but they’re going to have to do some professional investigating to get to the heart of the matter, the bottom of the problem.

So what are they going to do next? This is where CCTV is of enormous benefit. Now we all know about CCTV generally. It’s pretty much everywhere, on street corners, in buildings, on roads. There’s a lot of talk about the surveillance society and just how watched we’ve become.

But here’s another viewpoint: CCTV can be enormously useful and helpful. Technology has allowed cameras to be employed across a range of situations, from medical to military, from crime prevention to, well, drain investigation.

The CCTV drain survey gives us, your drainage professionals, a vital insight into the state of your drains, without them having to conduct more invasive investigations. CCTV is a major tool when it comes to investigating and diagnosing drainage problems because it allows us to get into otherwise difficult to access areas. Our cameras will accurately record the state of your drains and the footage provides the basis for a comprehensive, diagnostic report.

So back we go to the scene of the crime. It may not quite be an open and shut case, but with CCTV technology, it’s definitely a case we can crack.

Published on Leave a comment on Could You Benefit From a CCTV Drain Survey?

Are you thinking: that’s not for me? Perhaps the idea of a CCTV drain survey just doesn’t appeal to you. Does it sound too technical, too involved, too expensive, or just too much trouble? Think again: the CCTV drain survey is a really efficient, cost effective way of inspecting your drains.

It’s a fact of life that drains don’t clean themselves, and they get a lot of use and suffer a lot of wear and tear. We won’t go too far into the grim details, but plenty passes through your drains daily, including:

• bath and shower water
• dishwater; and
• toilet paper.

Clearly this isn’t the whole story. When you wash up there’s probably food waste and grease; when you shower and bath, and shave, there’s hair. Small pieces of soap can gradually clog up your drains, as can items you should never put down there, such as cotton wool buds, coffee grounds, paper towels, cooking fat and oil and solid food waste.

With constant use, and with the best will in the world, drains can become less efficient over time as they get coated in waste, and deposits build inside them. You may notice that your drains have started to smell, or that wastewater takes longer to drain away. These are symptoms that your drains are not at their best.

Now there are commercially available drain unblocking products you can try, but if you’re having to keep doing it, the message is that something is not right and it’s likely to get worse.

Which is where a CCTV drain survey proves its value. Using state-of-the-art technology we can put a camera down your drain, and follow your drain network, recording all the normally hidden details. This is a proven method for drain detection, and it’s both cost effective and non-disruptive – we won’t be digging around just to find out what state your drains are in.

At the end of it we produce a full report of our findings, together with a DVD of the actual CCTV drain survey footage, and our recommendations for remedial or preventative action.

We’re Drainage Consultants and we love sorting drains out. Contact us today and see how you can benefit from a CCTV drain survey.

Published on Leave a comment on How Can You Protect Your Property from Drainage Danger?

Before considering whether or not it’s worthwhile having a CCTV drain survey, think about what sort of a threat poor drainage could be to your property.

Firstly, what about the drains that should carry surface water away? We live in a wet country, and some years are much, much wetter than others. Storm drains are designed to carry surface water away, but if they’re not working properly, this water won’t be going anywhere. Water that’s left to stand can seep into walls and eventually lead to decay. This sort of damage may take a long period of time to build up, but leaving your drains unattended will only make things worse in the long run.

Next there are your foul drains to think about. These carry wastewater away into the public sewer and drainage system. Foul really can mean foul if they get blocked up. The smell alone should alert you to the fact that something’s wrong. Blocked drains are a potential health hazard as well as an inconvenience and whichever way you look at it, they’re not pleasant to live with.

The thing about drains is that they are just there. You don’t generally give them a lot of thought unless, or until, something goes wrong. But it really is worthwhile considering having them inspected, particularly if you suspect that they are not functioning to the best of their capabilities.

One of the easiest, least disruptive and most cost effective ways of having your drains inspected is with a CCTV drain survey. We use the latest technology to send a camera into your drainage system so we can record exactly what condition it’s in.

We have team of professionals highly experienced in conducting drain surveys in a variety of commercial and domestic environments. Our CCTV drain survey will form the basis of a full report on your drainage system, including a DVD of the actual footage taken.

Whether it’s to diagnose a problem, or for mortgage or insurance purposes, a CCTV drain survey is the ideal way of ensuring your drains aren’t going to cause your property any lasting damage. Contact Drainage Consultants now for
more information.

Published on Leave a comment on Are Your Drains Doing Damage to the Environment? CCTV Drain Survey

Why would you have a CCTV drain survey? Let’s work back a bit: the most effective means easily available of clearing a blocked drain is a chemical cleaner, bought off the shelf. However, this kind of cleaner does contain harmful agents and is definitely hazardous if it comes into contact with your skin. If your drains are persistently poor in how they function, what then is the likely cumulative impact of continually using a chemical drain cleaner?

Chemical cleaners often contain sodium hydroxide, which is highly caustic. Prolonged use may eventually damage the local eco system, and your pipework. The question then becomes one of whether you have a long-term drainage problem if you’re having to resort to a chemical drain cleaner all the time.

How can you easily find out what condition your drains are in? The answer is a CCTV drain survey. With this method, cameras are pulled through your pipework, providing a clear, visual record of how your drains are looking. A CCTV drain survey is a way of giving your drains a proper health check. If they’re not flowing as well as you would expect them to, this is one way of finding
out why.

Not only will this work uncover any problem areas or damaged drains, it will also result in a comprehensive plan of your drainage system. This is particularly useful when it comes to selling a property, as banks, mortgage lenders and insurers can often request a drain survey. So, if you’ve had a CCTV drain survey completed prior to your property going on the market, or you want to alter it with building work, you’re likely to be speeding up the whole process.

In short, a CCTV drain survey has multiple direct and indirect advantages: it can diagnose long- and short-term drain issues; it will help satisfy mortgage lenders and insurers; it may save you money in the long run by uncovering problems early on; and it helps the environment if it means you no longer have to persistently pour chemicals down your drains to clean them.

Get in touch with Drainage Consultants today to arrange for your CCTV drain survey. It’s a cost-effective means of giving you peace of mind about your drains.

Published on Leave a comment on Where Are the Plans? Time for Drain Tracing

When it comes to drains, you can’t always get a clear picture about what’s going on. Unfortunately, when it comes to plans, the same can apply. Buildings evolve. They get refurbished, re-fitted, and extended. Vital plans can get lost or become outdated. A vital part of the process of building, however, how to know where to build, and what obstacles and difficulties there might be.

Drains and sewers can be a problem when it comes to building. There are recorded cases of people wanting to alter properties or add extensions only to discover that the position of drains and sewers makes proposed work difficult, if not impossible. In worse case scenarios, work has already commenced, at some expense, when the problems become apparent.

In 2004 a couple in Hampshire had planning permission to build an extension to their detached house only to find out from the local council that the position of a rising foul drain was likely to cause a problem. The existing plans had revealed nothing and the couple were put in a position where their scheduled extension was delayed while they spent more money redrawing and resubmitting their plans following a full survey of the site.

The key is to be prepared, to act in advance, and in so doing, save money and possible heartache. Drain tracing is a key part of the process in discovering what exactly lies beneath a building, and in obtaining up to date knowledge to therefore safeguard planning for building works.

Drain tracing involves the use of state-of-the-art technology to transmit electrical pulses, which can help pinpoint features of the concealed drain network. These might include concealed manholes or parts of the network that have become damaged over time.

Drain tracing provides a comprehensive picture of what a drain network looks like and what kind of condition it is in. This is the sort of knowledge that’s vital when considering building work.

Don’t risk disappointment and be prepared – contact Drainage Consultants today to find out how effective drain tracing can be in saving you time and trouble.

Published on Leave a comment on Hassle-free Public Sewer Connections

What would be the effect of your property not being connected to the public sewer system? The short answer is: trouble. Proper, safe drainage for sewerage is a mark of a civilised society. No one wants to return to a time when people shouted a warning (if you were lucky) and hurled their waste out of the window onto the street. Public sewer connections are an essential part of modern infrastructure, but they do involve a certain amount of individual responsibility.

If you have a new or existing property that needs connecting to the main public sewer, there are certain things you have to do to ensure that this happens. Under section 106 of the 1991 Water Industry Act, you must apply to your local utilities provider for permission to connect your property to the public sewer. This concerns foul (waste) water and surface water from rainfall.

The reason you have to make a formal application is to safeguard the whole public sewerage system by ensuring there are no unauthorised public sewer connections which might, in some way, damage or disrupt it.
Because you are making your own private decision to do this, you can choose a contractor to do the connection work for you. Your local utilities provider can carry out the work, but you have more choice, and control over the situation, if you decide on the company you want to do it. It's important that the work is planned in advance, so you will need to get your chosen contractor on board early on so that you can then submit proper plans to the utilities provider as part of your application.

At Drainage Consultants we have a vast amount of experience in carrying out public sewer connections for a wide range of clients. We take a very customer-centred approach to all our work, which means ensuring that your plans are professionally completed and clearly marked up to ensure your application goes through smoothly.

Once this is approved we'll schedule the work in at a time that's convenient for you, and we'll carry it out with the minimum of fuss or disruption. After we've done the work, we'll complete all the necessary certification on your behalf and arrange for the Water Authority to come and inspect the work.

We’re here to take the hassle out of the situation, making it easy for you to get the work done when you want it, to a standard that meets the most exacting professional standards.

Published on Leave a comment on How Do You Know if You’ve Got a Collapsed Drain?

Drains can collapse through changes over time. If a collapsed drain or sewer is left unattended it can have dramatic effects. Persistent leakage will wash away surrounding soil, which in turn will undermine the foundations of anything above ground. Fortunately you should be able to tell if there’s something wrong before it gets this bad.

What are the main causes of collapsed drains? Tree roots can grow into pipe joints, eventually cracking them apart. Sometimes ground movement can cause pipes to misalign or even break. Drains on your property may be nearer to the surface than mains sewers, which means any unstable ground areas could cause you difficulties, or even accidents.

The signs that you have a collapsed drain might be blockages or ground depressions. Look out for these signs on your driveway, or in your garden. If you get damp areas on the ground where they haven’t been before this may be an indication of something wrong with your drains.
What should you do to be sure of what you’re dealing with? The right answer for you is to get a professional drain survey. A drain survey will use a CCTV camera to detect and record any deterioration, damage or faults in your drainage system.

A drain survey will save you time, and in the end it may well save you money, particularly if it uncovers issues that will only get worse if they’re not immediately addressed.

The benefits of a drain survey are that it enables us to examine the state of your drains remotely, minimising costs and disruption. It also gives us a clear record of what’s down there, and forms the basis for a complete report, accompanied by a DVD of the CCTV drain footage.

Whether you’ve got an immediate drainage issue, if you just need reassurance, or if your mortgage lender requires this information, a drain survey is a swift and trouble-free way of getting a full picture of what’s going on with your drains.

Published on Leave a comment on Make a Fresh Start in 2016 With a Drain Survey

New Year resolutions aren’t always easy to keep. As you put away that last mince pie you might be thinking about an exercise regime that you’ll start in January. But will you, or will the demands of day-to-day life get in the way? Sometimes putting things off, or doing nothing, seems like the easiest option.

Some things, however, you can’t afford to put off, because the longer you leave them, the worse they’ll become. This is the case with faulty, blocked or damaged drains.

One clear way of finding out what state your drains are in is to have a drain survey. This involves specialist technology, whereby the camera is sent underground into the drainage system to record what’s there. The camera enters the system through manholes or access points. Once this is done, it’s carefully pushed through the pipework.

After the footage has been captured, it will be analysed by a team of experts. Any faults or damage to the drainage system will show up on the footage. This is a technologically advanced but economical way of establishing exactly what the conditions of the drain are.

Drainage systems are prone to deterioration over time. The effects of this may not be immediately apparent, or may be intermittent. Symptoms range from persistent blockages that reoccur to lingering odours and slow flow of drainage water.

The clear benefit of a drain survey is that it will clearly establish the cause for any of these symptoms. The CCTV footage forms the basis for a full report that includes a DVD as a visual record of what the survey has uncovered.

In the end, whether it’s a case of urgent repairs or other remedial work, the drain survey will enable us to clearly diagnose the problem and make a full set of recommendations for how we’ll solve it.

Sometimes putting things off, or not following through with your resolution, isn’t the best thing. Sometimes you need to make a fresh start and take decisive action. The drain survey you have now may well save you a lot of difficulty later.

Published on Leave a comment on Find the Fatberg With a CCTV Drain Survey

Christmas and New Year can be times of excess. There’s a lot of food and drink to be consumed. This can be measured by the growth spurt in gym membership that happens in January and February. Unfortunately, it can also be measured by the state of the country’s drains.

Fighting the flab is something of a theme in the months immediately following the festive season, but fighting a different kind of fat may just be more important. Fatberg is the name given to a congealed lump of fat and other waste items found in sewer systems. Unlike toilet paper, fatbergs don’t break down, in fact they can keep growing.

In 2013 a fatberg the size of a bus was found in drains in Kingston upon Thames. The following year a mass the size of a jumbo jet had to be cleared from a section of sewer pipe in Shepherd’s Bush.

One cause of clogged drains and, ultimately, fatbergs, is the sheer amount of cooking fat, oil and grease that gets put down them. If you thought you had trouble digesting all that turkey, think of what your drains have to deal with. Yes, it’s all got to go somewhere, but sometimes it hangs around, having a party of its own in your drains.

The fats in the discarded cooking grease break down into their component parts and these combine with other elements in the sewers to create a dense compound. This is how fatbergs are made.

So what can you do about it? From a prevention perspective, simply don’t pour cooking oil and fat down the sink. If, however, the damage has been done and you think your drains are not working to their proper capacity, get them inspected.

A CCTV drain survey is a modern, cost-effective and efficient way to thoroughly inspect your drains and find out where there are any trouble areas. Once these have been pinpointed, we can work out the best way to clear your drains.

Act now and save yourself greater inconvenience from blocked drains later.

Published on Leave a comment on Is All This Rain Bad For Your Drain? A CCTV Drain Survey Will Tell You

In November 2015 the UK overall had 145% of its normal average rainfall. This will come as no surprise for the unfortunate residents of Carlisle and other areas. Climate change is now a fact of life and with it comes wetter winters, with an increased likelihood of flooding.

Water causes damage and floodwater can be harmful to health if it contains sewage. If your drains become blocked and cannot cope with excess water, you are more likely to experience flooding, or backed up wastewater.

Certain aspects of this are out of your control. You cannot change the weather or organise the building of better flood defences. However, ensuring that your drains are operating properly is something you can do. If you have any suspicion that your drains are not working as they should be, you ought to consider getting them checked out.

Are there signs to look out for with damaged or faulty drains? There’s the obvious: water isn’t draining properly, or at all; or that toilets won’t clear when they are flushed. A persistent bad smell is another indicator.

A CCTV drain survey is a very good way of finding out what the condition of your drains is. If there are problems, a drain survey will be able to pinpoint where they are and ascertain the causes. We send a camera down your drain and, using precise sonar drain tracing, we are able to map your drainage network.

This is an accurate, cost-effective and non-disruptive way of discovering what action is needed to keep your drains working properly. If the persistent rain has had a bad effect on your drains, even causing them to collapse, our CCTV drain survey will be able to find this out.

We’ll provide you with a comprehensive report and a DVD of our footage, together with our recommendations for remedial action. Don’t put off something that might cause you more trouble further down the line. Contact us today and get your drains thoroughly inspected.

Published on Leave a comment on Who is Responsible for Public Sewer Connections?

If you’ve got a property that’s recently been built or developed, the chances are it will need connecting up to the public sewer network. We don’t normally think about things like public sewer connections. We see sewers as part of large-scale utilities that somebody else looks after. But if your property does require connecting up to the public sewer it is your responsibility.

Sewerage companies are responsible for the sewers themselves, and with this responsibility come certain rights of access, which covers private gardens where sewer pipes cross. So if there’s work required to the public sewer and it falls on your land, this would normally be taken care of by the sewerage company.

However, drains and private sewers carrying household waste are the responsibility of the householder or landlord. So where this local network requires connection to the public sewer, it is the private individual’s responsibility to arrange it. As with other utilities, the point at which the household waste connects with the public sewer marks the boundary.
If you want to connect your property to the public sewerage network, you’ll need to apply for a connection that complies with Section 106 of the Water Industry Act. The easiest way to go about this is to find a qualified contractor who will do the job.

We have a vast amount of experience with public sewer connections, employing a variety of different methods for completing this work, depending on the individual circumstances of the property involved. We’ll be able to advise you on what the best kind of connection will be suitable for your property.

Once the work is complete you’ll need to obtain a Certificate of Satisfactory Inspection. The Water Authority issues this once their inspector has thoroughly assessed your new public sewer connection. This is another reason why it makes sense to use a properly qualified, experienced contractor in the first place.

So the short answer to the question of who is responsible for your public sewer connection is that it’s you. But we’ll happily do the work on your behalf, to highest professional standard. Contact Drainage Consultants for more information about how we can help you.

Published on Leave a comment on Have You Got a Case of Drainage Déjà Vu?

There’s nothing quite like recurring drainage problems to put a damper on your day. These show themselves in a variety of ways, all of them unpleasant. For example, a persistently foul odour coming from your drains would indicate a recurring drainage problem. And while you might be able to function as normal, up to a point, it’s not something you can really ignore.

In the home, foul smelling drains are bad news, in a business they can become a real liability. Restaurants in particular can suffer from recurrent drainage problems due to the high volumes of fat and grease they routinely have to dispose of. Clogged drains may seem like a fact of life if you have a restaurant or catering business, but this doesn’t mean they can’t, and shouldn’t, be addressed.

A drain survey is an excellent means to detect problem areas in a drainage system and to diagnose specific issues, such as foul-smelling and slow-working drains.

This isn’t a simple, nice to have option: commissioning a drain survey is a cost effective way of uncovering drainage problems without going to the expense and potential disruption of preliminary excavations. Modern CCTV technology allows us to conduct a thorough underground investigation and record the results.

The drain survey will show us what conditions your drains are in. We’ll be able to see from the CCTV footage whether or not there’s any long-term structural damage, collapses or blockages. Our CCTV footage will provide the information for a full survey report. This is how we can let you know exactly what you’re dealing with, along with our recommended action plan. We’ll also give you a DVD of the CCTV footage so you have your own record of what our cameras have unearthed.

When it comes to drainage problems, it really doesn’t have to be a case of here we go again. We can systematically investigate, record, report and then act to ensure your drains don’t keep causing you problems.

If you’ve got recurring drainage issues, whether you’re a householder or a business owner, you need to consider whether a drain survey is something you can continue to afford not to have.

Published on Leave a comment on Don’t Ignore the Elephant in Your Drain

It’s true; in some places elephants get trapped in drains. Really. There have been stories in the news from Thailand to Africa about this happening. On the one hand, detecting the drainage problem shouldn’t prove too difficult – you won’t need a CCTV drain survey to spot an elephant blocking the drain – on the other, shifting the problem might require quite a bit of manpower.

There’s something else to consider though. The expression, elephant in the room, has become commonplace, short for ignoring a problem that’s so big that avoiding it seems easier than tackling it. But what happens if there’s an elephant in your drain?

What we mean is, supposing you’ve got ongoing drainage problems. Maybe they’re not enough to completely bring you to a standstill, but nevertheless, they’re an inconvenience. What sort of problems? Perhaps your drains are always smelly, no matter what you put down them to try and take the stench away. Or your drains are slow to work, or you keep having repeated, minor blockages that you’re able to clear for a short time but they keep happening.

These might be the sorts of drainage problems you feel you can somehow learn to live with. But at the back of your mind there’s the nagging worry that things going wrong repeatedly are only going to get worse. So if you want to confront the elephant in your drain, what can you do?

We can give your drains a CCTV drain survey. It is what it sounds like: we send a camera down your drainage system to uncover its hidden secrets. This is a really cost effective way to find out what state, exactly, your drains are in. It will reveal any problem areas, blockages and weaknesses.

We compile the results into a comprehensive report for you, and we include a DVD of the CCTV drain survey footage so you can see for yourself. We’ll give you a recommended course of action and fully explain to you what we need to do to get your drains sorted out.

You might be able to live with an elephant, but in the end surely it’s better to have any problems investigated and remedied, before you face a full-blown crisis.