This probably isn’t a scenario that seems too hard for you to imagine. You go to your bathroom sink to wash your hands or brush your teeth, and you notice that the water is starting to fill up instead of drain. You check the drain and make sure it isn’t in the stop-up position and then you reach under the sink and grab a liquid draining product of some sort. You read the label to see how much to pour down the drain and you unscrew the cap. But, stop right there.
Mark Wethington, owner of B&J Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning Inc., strongly advises against pouring any chemicals down the drains in your home. This is an ineffective way to manage clogs, he explains. And, it could be doing you more harm than good.
The problem with liquid plumbers
The products that are advertised to unclog your water pipes seem, in theory, to be a great idea. Your only expense is the cost of the bottle and you don’t have to call your local plumber to come to your home. But, these cleaners are made of sulfuric acid which can eat away at metal pipes over time. If you use them too often, or add too much and the acid sits in your drains, there is a strong possibility that your pipes will leak or you will have to replace them altogether. Additionally, you now have the acid circulating in your water system.
A new solution
Wethington recommends using Bio Clean, a natural drain cleaner. Bio Clean contains enzymes and natural bacteria that are designed to eat away at natural waste products that clog your drains and septic tanks such as grease, paper, hair and sewage. It does not contain any harsh chemicals or acids and is safe enough to be used routinely.
Within an hour of pouring Bio Clean down your drain, the bacteria in the solution start to eat away at the waste in your plumbing, working their way through your entire system. Bio Clean is also effective on garbage disposals, grease traps and septic systems, all areas that the typical liquid plumbing product can’t clean.
Even without a persistent drain problem, Wethington suggests using Bio Clean routinely. The microbes will effectively eat away at any clogs that could be forming in your plumbing system. And since the bacteria only eats away at waste, it won’t harm your pipes or septic tanks.
