Even though your sewer lines are hardly ever on your mind unless you start smelling foul odors or experience a backed-up drain, maintaining your lines saves you time and money down the road. Even if you’d rather spend the money on something more fun than routine sewer line cleaning, it’s important to keep your sewer line healthy. Below are seven steps to take to prevent sewer line problems.

1. Don’t Flush Unwanted Pills

Flushing medications, whether you simply don’t need them or they’re expired, not only creates a hazard for children and water quality, but it also accumulates in your drains. The proper way to dispose of unwanted or expired medications is to take them to a drug store, pharmacy, police station, or hazardous waste collection facility.

2. Be Careful What Else You Flush

Products that claim that they’re flushable aren’t always flushable, so they can cause clogs and overflows. This is because these products either take a long time to deteriorate or don’t deteriorate at all. These items include feminine hygiene products, cloth diapers, disposable diapers, paper towels, and wipes for cleaning or personal care.

3. Use Enzyme Drain Cleaners Instead of Chemicals

While chemical drain cleaners do clean drains, they can also cause damage, even if you have metal pipes. Enzyme drain cleaners work on clearing pipes of organic material by using bacteria cultures and concentrated enzymes to clear your pipes of mildew, food particles, mold, and other organic matter.

4. Keep an Eye on Your Sewer Lateral

As a homeowner in Albuquerque, NM, it’s your responsibility not only to maintain your own pipes, but also to maintain the pipeline between the city’s sewer main and your house. A cracked or deteriorated lateral causes many problems for your home and allows groundwater to seep inside, along with dirt, rocks, and other debris.

5. Keep Plant Roots Away From the Sewer Line

You may love the trees, flowers, bushes, and other plants on your property. Trees provide shade, oxygen, and sometimes food, and flowers beautify your yard. However, if trees or bushes are too close to sewer lines, the roots will grow into the pipes, causing cracks, clogs, and other problems.

6. Limit Food Disposal

Garbage disposals in sinks are great if they’re used properly. While you can use them to dispose of small amounts of cooking scraps, you can also use these bits to make bone broth, regrow your veggies, or make a vegetable stock. You can use coffee grounds as fertilizer and food scraps as compost for a garden, too.

7. Dispose of Grease Properly

Cooking grease and cooking oil solidify once they cool, leading to clogged drains or sewers. The best way to dispose of cooking grease or cooking oil is to place it in a mason jar, then scoop the contents into the trash.

Whether you’re experiencing signs of a frozen sewer line, or you need to replace old pipes, you can trust our plumbers at All-Out Plumbing. We have the knowledge and experience to handle any sewer line job in Albuquerque, NM. Contact us today for all your sewer line and water line needs.