Most of the time, the cause of a slow drain is a build up of hair or grease. Sometimes, a toy or hair accessory somehow gets knocked in. The drain will run slower and slower as more stuff sticks to what's already in there. Eventually, it will get completely clogged and you'll be left with a sink or shower full of dirty water. Who has time for that?!
Slow drain solutions
The most common solution we hear people trying to use is chemical drain cleaners. We do NOT recommend using them for a slow drain. The chemicals are extremely harsh on your home's plumbing system and may do more damage than good. Also, they also pose a hazard to whoever works on the drain. When a plunger or snake is used, the chemical can splash back out of the drain and burn you. Chemical drain cleaners are also horrible for the environment. Carefully pouring a mixture of hot water and vinegar down the drains periodically may be a good preventative measure, but will not completely clear out years of sludge. We use and recommend a product called BioClean. It's chemical-free and safe to use in septic system. It also doesn’t ruin your home’s plumbing systems with harsh chemicals. It’s a blend of enzymes and bacteria that attacks only organic wastes like grease, hair, food particles, paper, cotton & sewage.The picture below shows what the inside of a slow drain looks like. We could not snake or powersnake this Coventry CT drain. This shows how much food and grease builds up over time. It was also an older galvanized steel pipe. Running any equipment down it could have cracked it and done more damage. There was too much corrosion and we had to cut that section of the drain out and replace it.
