out of the sewer

Three hundred dollars later, here we are. The line is working again, and we have a better picture of what goes on in our sewers.

 

Proper drainage requires a healthy slope so all the slude we trudge can sludge downhill. Unfortunately, when the sewer line begins in the basement, it's already starting pretty low. And since the sewer main out in the street is also underground, the slope from basement to sewer main is not exactly substantial.

 

Additionally, liquid flowing downhill picks up speed as it moves from a larger pipe to a smaller one. That's a pretty basic hydraulic principle that is true in the inverse -- the pressure and speed drop as the liquid flows from a smaller pipe into a larger one. Our pipe has a low slope, and out near the sewer main, it widens into a pipe about the same size as the main itself. Ergo, when the sewage arrives at the main, it has little pressure going for it, and easily builds up.

 

Righting this problem would require relaying the pipe to create a better slope, and installing a several hundred dollar pump to get the water from our washing machine to flow uphill and into the pipe. We're talking several thousands of dollars by the time it's all said and done.

 

So, instead, the plumber needs to use some 90 feet of coil to work everything free, and we're stuck paying some $200 or $300 every time we need him to come out.

 

I feel better knowing all this, don't you?