Your Clogged Drain: A Petri Dish for Bacteria | Insight from Your Trusted Drain Cleaning Service in The Woodlands, TX

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You do everything you can to keep your home in The Woodlands, TX, clean and your family safe from dangers like bacteria, but if your kitchen sink is overdue for drain cleaning service, then you may be overlooking a source for hidden germs in your home. The truth is that a clogged drain can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria that can cause your family to become seriously sick.

Germs Lurking in Your Sink

So, what's the attraction? As it turns out, the high level of moisture found in a clogged drain provides the ideal environment for certain types of bacteria that usually makes their way to your sink from a food source, says researchers at Miami University. Some common bacteria that like to take up residence and make themselves at home in clogged drains include:

• Campylobacter. Raw milk, raw animal food, vegetables, and unchlorinated water can be sources of this bacteria that sometimes make their way to your drain. Exposure to these dangerous bacteria can lead to symptoms like muscle pain, headache, fever, and bloody diarrhea.
• Escherichia coli (E.coli). Drains exposed to contaminated food or drinks can be harboring E. coli, which causes a range of symptoms, from nausea and vomiting to fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
• Salmonella. This type of bacteria usually ends up in the drain from raw meat, dairy products, or fresh produce. It can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, bloody stool, and diarrhea in addition to child and headache.
• Staphylococcus aureus. Staph bacteria thrive in wet environments, waiting to find a host, which makes your drain particularly tempting. Staph causes everything from infected wounds to toxic shock and pneumonia.

These are four guests that you don't want in your home in The Woodlands, TX, period. Regular professional drain cleaning can help, but you may also need to reach out to your plumbing professional for one-off service. So how do you know if you have a problem?

Signs of a Clogged Drain

There are some telltale signs that your drain is in dire need of drain cleaning. Watch for:

• Slow draining. If you have a clog and water flow is impeded, then the drain will not allow water through as quickly as it normally does.
• Bad odor. If you notice a smell emanating from your kitchen drain, it's usually caused by waste that is clogging the drain (and harboring untold bacteria). Your best move is to schedule drain cleaning right away with your local plumber. Keep in mind that if you smell a bad odor from more than one drain, you may have a problem in the sewage system.
• Gurgling noises. Air in the drain can cause your drain to gurgle and make strange noises, and more often than not, the air is the result of an obstruction from grease or dirt that creates air bubbles. Professional drain cleaning can help clear the debris from your drain so that air and wastewater moves freely.
• Food particles in the sink. If you run your dishwasher only to notice that you later have food particles in your sink, then you can pretty much guarantee that you have a clog. The problem can lie with the drain itself or the dishwasher. Have your plumber take a look.
• Repeat clogs. If you are continually plunging the kitchen drain or a drain in the bathroom, you may have a larger problem lurking somewhere in your plumbing system. An evaluation and inspection by your plumbing professional is your first step to eliminate the problem once and for all.
• Multiple drains clogs. You may have an advanced plumbing issue if you have more than one drain clogged at once; a main sewer clog can sometimes be to blame, and drain cleaning is in your plumbing system's future.

DIY for Clogged Drains?

While it's tempting to take on drain cleaning yourself, the truth is that most of the methods that homeowners use are ill-effective or may even cause more harm. For example, you may use a plunger to tackle a clog in the kitchen drain, but the result may be that your actions just force the clog further on down the system to cause problems elsewhere, deeper in your pipes. Some DIY plumbers who take on drain cleaning themselves often find that going for a quick fix by doing it themselves only leads to paying more later when they exacerbate the problem in the first place. Professional plumbers know the ins and outs of drain cleaning, and what's more, they have the equipment needed to identify and break up clogs fast, including inspection cameras and other tools.

How About Drain Clearing Chemicals?

Your local hardware or home store likely has a lot of promising products on the shelf that you're tempted to try. Commercially available drain cleaners are popular, but some of them can be dangerous to use, both for you and your plumbing. All of them are caustic, posing a risk if you inhale their fumes or get them on your skin, and others contain hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive substance that can erode your pipes and in worst-case scenarios, cause enough damage to eventually require replacement or even sewer repairs. And finally, there's no way of knowing for sure if they'll work. Typically, drain cleaning chemicals remove only the most minor clogs, and if you have a backed-up sewer line or broken pipe, they can make the situation even worse and up costing thousands of dollars in repair costs.

Protecting Your Family

As you can see, a clogged drain is not just a nuisance; it can put your family at risk for disease and illness. Trust bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Northwest Houston in The Woodlands, TX, to keep your drains running smoothly and your family safer. Contact our licensed plumbing professionals for drain cleaning service and we'll hop on over right away.