Most Common Causes of Sewage Backup

Nearly half a million sanitary sewer overflows occur every year in the United States. Sewage backups happen when a sewage line becomes blocked and sends waste back through the drains in your home.

Not only is a sewage backup in your home inconvenient, but it’s also a potential health risk. It doesn’t often happen, so many people aren’t aware of the causes and dangers of a sewage backup.

If you’ve found yourself in a sewage backup situation, here are the most common sewage backup causes, as well as how a sewage backup in your home can affect yourself and your loved ones.

Most Common Causes of Sewage Backup

One of the most common causes of sewage backup is a clog. A clog can occur either in the drainpipes or main sewer line of your home.

For example, if only one toilet shows signs of sewage backup, it’s likely a clog in your drainpipes. However, if all the toilets and showers in your home have a sewage backup, there’s probably a clog in the main sewer line.

Another common cause of sewage backup is tree roots. It sounds far-fetched, but trees grow long roots that may interfere underground with your home’s sewage line.

Tree roots can puncture sewage lines or crush the lines by growing too tightly around them. Even if the tree isn’t in your yard, a nearby neighbor’s tree roots can end up damaging your home’s main sewer line.

Damaged sewer lines are a very common cause of sewage backup. If your sewer lines are older, they can start to crack and break. This leads to sewage backups as well as flooding in basements.

The last common cause of sewage backup is heavy rainfall. If a city’s sewage line is flooded by excessive rain, connected sewer lines will overflow and potentially cause a sewage backup in your home.

Risks of a Sewage Backup

Sewage backups are gross and inconvenient. They can also be dangerous for you and your loved ones.

Coming into contact with sewage water can make you sick, because it is most likely infested with bacteria. If you ingest it or get it into an open wound, there are many serious illnesses that you can catch.

Sewage backups can cause mold to grow in your home, which also poses serious health risks. This is why it’s important to utilize a sewage cleanup service as soon as sewage backup signs reveal themselves.

Sewage backups can also cause breathing problems. It makes the symptoms of asthma and other allergies worse.

Don’t Panic 

Now you know all the most common causes of sewage backups and why it’s important to deal with a backup as soon as possible. Now it’s time to devise a plan to accommodate a sewage backup in your home.

Barakat Restoration has over 20 years of experience cleaning up after sewage backups quickly and efficiently. Give us a call or send us an email, and we can ensure that you and your loved ones are safe after a sewage backup occurs.