Dealing with a clogged drain is always an inconvenience in one way or another. We understand that it may seem like the least annoying way to address this problem is to buy a chemical drain cleaner at the supermarket and hope for the best, but this is a mistake. If your drain is clogged and you cannot solve the problem yourself without the use of a chemical drain cleaner, you should call a professional to solve the problem. Chemical drain cleaners can cause many significant issues. Read on to learn why it is best to avoid them.
1. Chemical Drain Cleaners Can Damage Your Pipes
While the chemicals in drain cleaners are designed to destroy clogs, they can also corrode your pipes. If you repeatedly use chemical drain cleaners to try and remove clogs, you will eventually cause holes to form in your pipes as the chemicals eat away at them. Holes in your pipes can eventually lead to leaks, water damage, and the need to repair or replace your plumbing system.
It is a particularly bad idea to use these types of products to try and remove clogs from old pipes because this can bring those pipes to the end of their lifespan. Chemical drain cleaning products market themselves as a convenient and inexpensive way to protect pipes but, in the long run, you will destroy your pipes and cost yourself a lot more money and headache if you use them.
2. Chemical Drain Cleaners Can Damage Your Septic System
If you have a septic system, you should not use chemical drain cleaners. Your septic system is designed to break down organic materials, like human waste, not the hazardous chemicals found in drain cleaners. Helpful bacteria within your septic system work to break down organic waste, and chemical drain cleaners can harm, or even exterminate, these bacteria. Without those bacteria, your septic system will be unable to break down waste properly. If you accidentally kill off the helpful bacteria in your septic tank with chemical drain cleaner, you may be forcing yourself to repair or replace your entire septic system down the line. The hazardous chemicals themselves can also corrode the pipes leading to your septic system and cause issues, as well.
3. Chemical Drain Cleaners Are Unsafe to Use
The chemical drain cleaner products sold in stores also cause injury when they come into contact with the human body. The seriousness of the injury will depend upon where the cleaner contacts your body. If one of these products splashes onto your skin while you pour it down your drain to treat a clog, it can give you a serious chemical burn. If chemical drain cleaner splashes into your eyes, it can cause blindness. You may be inclined to dismiss the chances of such an event occurring, but every year approximately 3,000 drain cleaner-related injuries occur in the United States. Even when nothing else goes wrong, using liquid drain cleaners can compromise the air quality of your home by releasing toxic fumes that can irritate your eyes, nose, and lungs, particularly if you have respiratory issues.
4. Chemical Drain Cleaners are Hazardous for Children
Chemical drain cleaners can also be dangerous products to have in your home if you have young children. Thousands of emergency room visits every year are caused by young children sneaking into cabinets they should not be in and drinking toxic household cleaners, including drain cleaners. If a child ingests chemical drain cleaner, it can cause severe chemical burns on his or her mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach, leading to permanent damage and even death. If you have both young children and a chemical drain cleaner in your home, take care to secure this product in a locked cabinet where your child cannot access it.
5. Chemical Drain Cleaners are Bad for the Environment
Chemical drain cleaning products are not only dangerous to your plumbing systems and human safety, but also to water quality, wildlife, and the environment in general. When you pour chemical drain cleaner down your sink, you are sending those toxic chemicals into the wastewater system and ultimately back out into the environment. Drain cleaners are not biodegradable, so their dangerous chemicals can eventually make their way from our drains into rivers, lakes, groundwater, and the ocean. Not only are these cleaners a threat to our drinking water, they can also poison birds, fish, frogs, and other wildlife.
6. Chemical Drain Cleaners Can Be Ineffective
Chemical drain cleaners are potentially hazardous to your pipes, your septic system, your safety, the safety of your young children, your community’s water quality, and wildlife, but at least they remove clogs effectively, right? Well, not necessarily. The sorts of chemical drain cleaning products you can buy in a store are, at best, a short-term solution to clogs, and they do not always work. Sometimes, they remove a clog, but they can also simply push it deeper into your pipes, or even make it harder to break up. Drain cleaner is also completely ineffective against many types of common clogs, such as tree roots. Of course, they are also incapable of diagnosing the cause of a chronic clogging problem. If you have a serious clog problem, you will not find a solution in a bottle of chemicals.
Better Solution For Clogged Drains
Thankfully, there is a safe alternative to chemical drain cleaners that you can rely on when your drains and pipes become clogged. A professional can accurately assess the cause of the problem and implement an effective and safe solution. If you are having a clog problem, call A&L Cesspool so that we can solve that problem safely and reliably.
