How To Clear A Blocked Gully Drain - Top 11 Tips [2024]

Worried about how to clear a blocked gully drain? We will help you identify the steps for cleaning a blocked gully drain and drainage pipe.

29 Dec, 2023
How To Clear A Blocked Gully Drain - Top 11 Tips  - blog poster

What Causes A Blocked Gully Drain?

The steps how to clear a blocked gully drain are not an easy task. A blocked gully drain means the whole water flow system has been interrupted due to an underground drain pipe blocked. Although there are numerous factors for the gully drain to be blocked like the discharge of debris and garbage through the drain, tree roots, barks, and leaves getting struck near the gully drain chamber, and the buildup of minerals calcium within the drain pipes are among the few causes of blocked a drain.

As the best gully grating manufacturer in Kolkata, we would suggest you clean the gully drain, drainage fittings, and blocked sewage drain at regular intervals to maintain the quality of the gully drain as well as unclog the clogged debris getting accumulated near the gully drain.

Before we take you through the steps of how to clear a blocked gully drain, you need to identify the signs of the blocked gully gratings. So, let us begin.

Pic of Om Concrete Products Gully Grating

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How To Identify A Blocked Gully Drain And Ground Drainage?

To know how to clear a blocked gully drain, first, you need to understand and identify the causes of a blocked gully drain.

We have mentioned a few tips below from which it would be easier to identify if your gully drain is blocked or not.

1. Abhorrent Smell

If you get any sort of distasteful or foul smell coming from the gully drain, it is because the mouth of the gully drain has become clogged and you need to clear blocked drain pipe as well.

2. Slow Water Drainage

If you ever notice the discharge of water is taking more than normal time to get flushed out of the gully drain and is getting accumulated near the water pools, then your gully drain needs immediate action of cleaning.

3. Babbling Sound

Another step in identifying how to clear a blocked gully drain is noticing any unusual or gurgling sound coming from the mouth of the gully drain. This happens when the water gets pushed against the pipes of the gully drain and you need to clear the under ground drainage system as soon as possible.

4. Congested Flowing Of Water

Another terrible sign of a blocked gully drain is overflowing of water on the surface due to it not getting discharged through the waste water drainage system.

A cement gully gratings

Read Also: A Step-by-Step Guide to Gully Grating Installation

Steps And Tips On How To Clear A Blocked Gully Drain?

The steps of clearing a blocked waste pipe and gully drains are simple yet you need to be cautious throughout the entire process. Check out the steps for clearing blocked waste water pipe and gully drains with us.

Step 1: Take Safety Precautions

Before you start clearing underground drainage pipes and the gully drainage, you must ensure your safety by using safety gloves, goggles, and safety clothes before you touch the waste and debris formed near the gully drains.

Step 2: Identification Of Clogged Gully Drain

You need to properly examine the site of the gully drain to find the clogging.

Step 3: Removal Of Wastage From The Gully Drain

If you see waste water pipe blocked, this is due to the formation of debris in the mouth of the gully drain which eventually flushed through the mouth openings to the clear sewer drain. Start by cleaning the gully drain mouth as this might clean the clogged drains if it is just on the surface level of the drain opening.

Step 4: Use A Piston-rod

If you find the clog to be not severe then try using a piston rod around the gully drain and push it through the levels of the gully mouth to clear sewer.

Step 5: Pour Boiled Water

Next, you can also pour boiled water into the blocked drain pipes through the openings of the gully drain. Boiled water has the ability to soften hard sewer particles and ultimately dissolve them.

Step 6: Mix Vinegar And Baking soda

To clear blocked waste pipe, you can also try mixing a spoonful of baking soda with a small cup of vinegar and pour it through the gully drain openings. This chemical reaction often comes in handy to unclog debris and waste by breaking their form. 

Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes inside the gully drain to start the reaction and then rinse the mixture of baking soda and vinegar with hot water.

Step 7: Use A Steel Or Copper Wire

Take a wire and try making a small hook at one end of the wire. Start by pushing the wire deep into the wanted location of the drainage through the gully drain opening and prick the formed debris and waste continuously with the wire until it dissolves through the pipes.

Step 8: Use Forced Pressure Of Water-Jet

For sewer blockage clearing, a jet water spray often comes useful as it pushes all the formed waste through the drainage pipes with its high-intensity pressure of water flushing. Excessive high water pressure can solve your problem of waste removal from the gully drains to clear blocked drain in your area.

Step 9: Drain Cleaners With Natural Ingredients

You can also use natural ingredients that are environment-friendly to clean clogged gully drains such as Salt and Barox.

Step 10: Drain Cleaners With Chemical Agents

When none of the natural cleaning processes comes into use, you can try using chemical cleaners for removing the debris in the process of how to clear a blocked gully drain with stiff and inordinate waste blocked in the water pipe and gully drain. 

Be careful with the chemical cleaners as they contain too much of chemicals that can sometimes damage your drain pipes. So, use it wisely.

Step 11: Seek Help From A Professional

If you are unable to clear the blockage by yourself and are fed up with trying different methods, you can try calling an expert plumber who can help you solve your issue as they have the right kind of expertise, equipment, methods, and techniques to clear even the worst clogged gully drains.

Pic of gully grating as drainage fittings

We hope we have provided you with the required idea of how to clear a blocked gully drain with our blog.

If you are still left with queries, feel free to contact us at our website of Om Concrete Products.

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