What cleaning actually involves
Drain cleaning uses high pressure jetting to clean the pipe. A nozzle with backward-facing water jets pulls itself through the pipe and flushes grease, silt, sand and soap residue back to a chamber. Unlike unblocking, which is about clearing a blockage, the aim here is to make the whole pipe wall clean and smooth. That gives new debris less to grip onto and keeps the full bore of the pipe available.
The factors that set the rhythm
How quickly a pipe gets dirty depends on a number of factors:
- the material: smooth PVC pipes foul more slowly than old clay or concrete pipes with rough walls and socket joints
- the fall: a pipe that is laid flat or has sagged lets debris settle
- the use: a family with children or a kitchen where a lot of cooking is done discharges more
- nearby trees: roots seek out moisture and grow into open joints
- the system: with a combined system, sand and leaves from roofs also end up in the pipe
Guidelines for households
For an ordinary family home with PVC pipes and good habits, periodic cleaning is usually not needed. A CCTV drain survey every few years then gives enough certainty. In an older home with clay pipes, or a home that has had a blockage before, many owners choose cleaning every one to two years. If you have trees close to the pipe, a yearly check is sensible, because root ingress can progress quickly.
A good moment to set the rhythm is after a CCTV drain survey. If the engineer sees little build-up and a healthy pipe, the interval can be generous. If there are grease rings, silt or a sag, a shorter interval makes sense.
Owners' associations and landlords
In an apartment building, several households share the same soil stacks and horizontal pipes. One resident who flushes grease or wipes can affect the drainage for a whole stack. That is why many owners' associations (VvE) choose a fixed maintenance schedule, for example yearly cleaning of the soil stacks and the main drain, and a CCTV drain survey as part of the long-term maintenance plan.
The same applies to landlords: preventive cleaning between tenants or at a fixed time each year prevents breakdowns and emergency call-outs. Bosmans provides maintenance for owners' associations and landlords with a schedule that suits the building.
Restaurants and businesses
In restaurants, a lot of grease goes down the drain every day, even with a grease separator. As a result, the pipes before and after the separator foul quickly. An interval of three to six months is common in busy kitchens, and in large-scale kitchens sometimes even more often. In commercial buildings with canteens, washrooms or production processes, the rhythm also depends on what is discharged. A few surveys in a row show how quickly the build-up returns.
Signs that it is time
Apart from a fixed schedule, there are signs that cleaning makes sense now: drains running more slowly, a gurgling sound, a sewer smell in the house or a rodding eye chamber with a higher water level than normal. After a blockage, a full clean is also sensible, because build-up often remains in the pipe after it has been cleared. That way you start again with a clean pipe and a clear picture of the condition of your drainage.
Preventive jetting at Bosmans
Bosmans Rioolservice cleans pipes with high pressure jetting equipment and can use an inspection camera to show you what was done, before and after. Based on the footage, the engineer recommends a suitable rhythm. You hear the rate in advance, with a call-out from 45 euros and work charged per hour.