Blocked Drain Clearing
in Edenvale
A blocked drain in Edenvale is not always a blockage. If the yard gully overflows only when it rains hard, the street's sewer may be full, and rodding your pipe will not help. If it backs up on a dry day, the plug is in your line, and it gets cleared.
Drains We Clear, Inside And Out
Where a blockage usually sits, from the basin trap to the boundary.
Kitchen sink
Fat and food scraps settle in the trap and the first length of pipe. The usual sign is a sink that drains slowly long before it stops.
Toilets and the soil pipe
Wipes and paper. When the toilet rises and other fittings are fine, the plug is close to the pan.
Outside gully and yard line
Leaves, silt and fat that got past the trap. An overflowing gully on a dry day means the line beyond it is blocked.
The line to the boundary
Roots and broken joints. A blockage that keeps coming back here needs the pipe looked at, not just cleared again.
A Storm-Day Backup Is Not A Dry-Day Blockage
Edenvale's stormwater history, and the test that tells you which one you have.
Edenvale's stormwater runs to the Eastleigh Spruit, fed by the Hurlyvale and Harmelia spruits. After the storm of November 2016, Ward 18's councillor said ninety percent of the damage happened along the Eastleigh Spruit or came from water that could not get into its full channel and pushed back. She also said the system had been designed before the highways around Edenvale were built.1
The spruit still silts up. In October and November 2024 the City cleared silted and blocked stretches near 5th and 6th Avenue along Andries Pretorius Road, to keep water out of factories and homes. It reported that 60% of the debris was empty drink containers and other objects, and named sewage overflow and grey water from nearby factories among the pollution.2
Stormwater and sewage are supposed to travel in separate pipes, but in a heavy storm rainwater gets into sewers through cracked pipes, lifted manhole covers and downpipes connected where they should not be. A sewer that fills that way backs up to the lowest opening it can reach, and on a lot of properties that is the yard gully.
So time it before you pay anyone. If the gully overflows only during or just after hard rain, and the toilets and sinks drain normally the next dry morning, the trouble is downstream of your property: report it to the City on 0860 543 000. If water backs up on a dry day, or one fitting drains slowly while the rest are fine, the blockage is in your own line and clearing it is plumbing work.
Getting it wrong costs money in both directions. Rodding a drain that only overflows in storms clears nothing, because there was nothing in your pipe. Blaming the weather for a dry-day blockage lets it build until the next heavy use pushes sewage out of the gully.
Note when it happens. Rain-only overflows go to the City; dry-day backups come to a plumber.
How Drain Clearing Is Priced
What makes one blocked drain cost more than another.
The visit
Said on the phone when you book, and it covers finding where the blockage is.
Where the plug sits
A trap under the sink is a short job. A line under paving to the boundary takes longer to reach and clear.
What it is made of
Fat and wipes clear with rods or water. Roots or a broken joint need a repair, which is quoted on its own.
Proof before digging
If a line keeps blocking, an inspection is quoted before anything is dug up, so you pay to open the right spot.
How A Drain Call-Out Goes
Four steps, from the first phone call to a line that runs.
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Say when it backs up
Dry day or storm, one fitting or all of them. The answer decides whether it is your line or the street.
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Find the plug
From the trap outward to the gully and the rodding eye, until the blockage is located.
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Clear and flush
The line is cleared and run with plenty of water to show it flows, with you there to see.
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What caused it
Fat, wipes, roots or a broken joint. You are told which, so it does not come straight back.
Drains, Leaks And Sewers Next Door
Other pages that pick up where this one stops.
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Leak detection
Meter creeping with the taps off, damp that never dries
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Emergency plumber
Burst pipe, water through a ceiling, a geyser that let go
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Plumber in Bedfordview
Signal Hill supply, mid-block sewers
Drain Questions People Ask
Starting with what clearing a drain costs.
How much is drain unblocking in Edenvale?
Two things set the price: how far down the line the plug is, and what it is made of. A plug in a sink trap is a short job; a yard line under paving that has to be cleared to the boundary takes longer. You hear the visit fee on the phone, and the price for clearing is given before the work starts, so a quick job is priced as a quick job.
Who clears a blocked City sewer?
A blockage in the municipal sewer is the City's job. Report it on 0860 543 000 and write down the reference number. Blockages in the pipes that serve only your property are plumbing work.
What should never go down a drain?
Wet wipes, including the ones sold as flushable, fat and cooking oil, sanitary products, paper towel and cotton buds. Fat goes down warm and sets in the pipe; wipes do not break up and catch everything that follows them.
Can tree roots block my drain?
Yes. Roots get in through joints and cracks, mostly in older clay and fibre-cement pipe, and grow into a mat that catches paper. Cutting them out clears the line for a while; sealing or replacing the joint they came through is what stops them coming back.
Will you pour chemicals down it?
No. A chemical drain cleaner poured onto a solid blockage mostly sits on top of it, and then whoever clears the drain is working in caustic water. Blockages are cleared mechanically.
Why does my toilet gurgle when the bath drains?
Air is being pulled through the toilet's water seal because the drain beyond it is part-blocked or badly vented. It is an early warning: the line still flows, but not freely, and it is cheaper to clear now than after it closes.
Do you clear drains in complexes and small businesses?
Yes. In a complex, the line from one unit and the shared line to the sewer can be different people's responsibility, so it helps to know which units are affected before the visit. For a kitchen or a workshop, say what goes down the drain day to day.
What happens if the pipe is broken?
A broken or collapsed section cannot be cleared back into shape. You are shown where it is, and the repair is quoted separately in writing, with how much paving or garden has to be opened.
Book A Drain Clearance
Say which drain, and whether it backs up in the rain or on a dry day.