Often, the build up of contaminants in the drains make waste water disposal impossible and the overflows leaves microorganisms to the areas we have direct contact. If you experience problems like this, you should contact the professionals. Our plumbing professionals possess both the experience and the tools to do drain cleaning properly and quickly. No drain cleaning problem is ever too small to ignore when it comes to your hygiene & plumbing system.

Establishing effective hygiene in food processing operations means combining good building design with the effective specification and installation of drains from the outset, says Peter Jennings, Technical Director for ACO Building Drainage. The single most important factor in every food and beverage processing operation is hygiene but all too often, however, the focus is on the latest process plant and equipment, and on technical developments that can improve safety, security and efficiency. Although essential, this focus can cause some of the more basic hygiene requirements to be overlooked, in particular the importance of good building design combined with the effective construction and maintenance of drains. Drainage may not be the most exciting topic but their design and management are crucial if hygiene standards are to be maintained. Drains are a breeding ground for pathogenic and non-pathogenic micro-organisms. These typically occur either as free form, where microbes float in the drain water, or embedded as biofilm. In each case they create the potential for transferring pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes from the drain to food products. However, by careful design of the drainage system, the correct choice of materials and the right installation techniques, these micro-organisms can be controlled. And by establishing both an efficient maintenance routine and a good sanitization regime, plant and maintenance engineers can minimize and control the risk of contamination. Making the right decisions regarding drainage during the building design stage can make a major contribution to hygiene. Providing floor drains of adequate number and capacity in appropriate locations can significantly minimize health risks, while considering the future requirement for cleaning and maintenance will enable, for example, hose stations to be provided in appropriate locations. Having planned the number, type and location of the drains, one then needs to consider the specific drainage products from a hygiene point of view and ensure that you select components that are easily cleanable. Gullies with minimal bacteria traps are now available, specifically designed to satisfy high-end hygienic performance applications. These designs have been made possible by following European design standards for hygiene and utilising advanced manufacturing techniques. Crucially, designs have also been informed by knowledge of how microbial communities develop within aqueous environments. The ACO Gully range, for example, is constructed from highly corrosion-resistant austenitic stainless steel, ideal for hygiene-critical applications such as food manufacture as its non-porous state enables easy cleaning and disinfecting. Drainage systems are naturally difficult to access but effective cleaning is essential and a closer examination of how pathogens develop in drains can enable a more effective approach. Pathogenic and non-pathogenic micro-organisms can be broken down into two types: those that are ‘free form’, which can be destroyed with traditional cleaning products, and those that are embedded in a bio film, which are far harder to kill. These embedded micro-organisms attach themselves to the drainage system surfaces with a protective film that resists chemical attack; it is these bio films that are sometimes visible on the drain surfaces as a dark or light slime. It is imperative that micro-organisms are prevented from entering hygiene-critical areas. Clogged drains can force the air from the drains to flow into these areas or, worse still, allow contaminated waste water to back up into the food preparation area. These conditions can become a major source of microbial contamination such as Listeria, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli and so it is vitally important that any developing blockage is addressed immediately. Another way of minimizing hygiene risk is to regularly clean accessible areas of the drain. This task should be performed with a side-to-side motion; an up-and-down motion can result in splash back and cause contaminated water to spill onto the floors of food preparation areas, thus causing the kind of hygiene risk that the cleaning routine was intended to prevent. Underground drainpipes, however, cannot be reached with brushes and must be tackled with new innovations of drain cleaning machines and break down the bio films. Microorganisms pose a constant threat to food processing facilities but by considering the potential of drainage to minimize hygiene risk at the outset of a building design and continuing to do so throughout the installation and maintenance, it is possible to meet and exceed the ever increasing demand for hygiene safety.

1. Floor Traps in Washroom: In any office and home, it is very common to find a floor trap in the washrooms. While going on facility audits it’s very common to find floor trap grills unplugged and not fixed properly that leads to drop down waste which is supposed to travel in a waste bin. In any of the drain pipe which is tough to clear if blocked or slow running using general home remedies of rodding may offer a temporary relief or damages which shall cost a lot in any case in future if the need of breaking the floor and tiles is required to fix it. So being proactive in such situations is the best option and all that you need to do is hire professional drain cleaning team who are well experienced and know all the latest techniques to resolve the problems by using highest standard cameras to locate and clean it. Malodour is the second problem in male washroom from such traps as we do not allow sufficient water to dilute liquid waste coming through the urinals and this cause waste in traps for a long time and odour coming out due to bacterial growth. The plumbing architectural design also plays a major role when all the P/S traps do not block the odour but work in opposite way than expected. If your drain is running smooth and still you find foul smell coming out, there are excellent plumbing products available to fix this and you have a pleasant experience to feel proud about it having discovered and fill the gap.

2. Water Closet: In offices or at home to have hygiene the need to use paper has drastically increased now largely in offices in form of toilet roll, personal seat covers to avoid contamination while most of it travels down the drain, hence it also depends on the quality of paper being used. The use of sanitary napkins and discussion on its disposal being a taboo subject yet and lead to lack of awareness on disposal in some facilities & in absence of a proper designated place for disposal it gives a woman no other option than flushing it in the WC. The resultant is a blocked drain or slow running line, it’s all the luck until it goes well. It was very imperative and the fact is we find cloths, mops, plastic cups etc in the WC toilet drain line. Cleaning and getting a relief out of such hassle is not so easy by using conventional pumping and rodding methods than calling a professional with appropriate tool to clean it. If your WC drain is functioning properly and still you have foul smell problem within the WC or washroom, you must get it checked whether the architectural design and installation of the seat is perfect to stop any foul smell coming back from the main drain line in the shaft or the sewer. In case the design or installation has some gap, trust there are products available to cap this forever.

3. Male Urinals: A washroom in a corporate reflects the image and reputation. Most commonly in male washrooms; managing urinals in washroom for a facility manager is the most difficult task. It’s not that you need to hold your breath like some public washrooms but one may not enjoy coming back again. Cleaning a washroom is a routine task with correct tools and solution. Even though, bad odour, a slow running urinal or a blocked drain is a real pain area often. It is due to the traffic, lime scale, salt accumulation in urinal drain pipe, splashing and waste thrown in the urinal pots. To counter this problem facility manager s are bound to use conventional methods available locally of using high water pressure from the mouth of the drain, vacuum pumps and acidic solutions which is now banned in many countries to unclog. Masking of bad odour by using numerous fragrance options available which works today and it becomes ineffective after some time as the route cause is not addressed. But looking at the larger picture of it, unfortunately the techniques used are hazardous for the health of the plumbing system; the pipes joints loosens after numerous attack which actually works for a temporary relief of initial length until next bend and cause seepages, if not then you cannot stop odour to get released from within the pipe joints when it is at ease and the porous wall do all the further course. Notice when you come to office in the morning when all the cleaning activity is done and you are the first user but you find bad odour which should not be if everything is alright, that’s when you find there is a real problem at root. Using fragrance solution is really important to combat the temporary odour while somebody uses a washroom toilet. But the continuous odour releasing factory and scaling needs to be rectified by the professionals so that the visitors/ employee enjoy the 5-10 minutes leisure in the washroom where there is no odour and no blockage and people appreciate to go with fresh mind again to do all the productive work and be efficient. If you find odour problem still persist after regular drain cleaning and following do’s and don’ts; checking you bottle trap is correct is really very important to replace with the trusted bottle traps available.

4. Bath Tubs/ Sink/ Kitchen Drain: Whether you have a live kitchen at home or it is outsourced at office, You must have a dish wash station, bath tubs also have similar soap and other oil based products flowing with the water and all these carries Fat, Oil & Grease (F.O.G) which solidifies when goes in the pipes with water and the accumulation/ scaling starts building up strong enough. The bacterial growth results into bad odour further. Hence a regular cleaning of the pipes by professionals at an interval along with usage of trusted enzyme based products at a regular interval is necessary in commercial drain pipes.