Stormwater pipes collect the rainwater from your roof and driveways and channels it to the Council’s stormwater management system. If your stormwater pipes are blocked, then it could flood your entire property. You will need to clear the blockage at the earliest possible to prevent damage to your property. Unlike clearing a block in your regular drain, unblocking stormwater pipes may not be that easy which you should understand clearly before you embark on any efforts to clear the block yourself. Your drain cleaners are not going to work here, you are going to need the proper tools and also the knowhow for clearing the block or blocks in the stormwater pipes.
One of the things that you could do is to check whether leaves and debris are blocking the stormwater pipes. If the water does not drain even after cleaning the debris and leaves from the entry points, then the problem is much deeper. It always helps to have the channels that collect water from your roof cleaned up before the rainy season. This preventive approach could go a long way in terms of saving you from huge plumbing bills.
When you are screening a plumbing company to unblock the stormwater pipes, check whether they use CCTV cameras to diagnose the problems if not, your plumbing company will first try to unblock the pipes and if they fail they will recommend you to call a company with CCTV camera. You would have to anyway pay the first plumbing company for the work they did even though your problem is not resolved.
Call a licensed and experienced company to ensure reliable service. Your service provider may not be in a position to give you a quote until they have identified the problem. However, it is important that you get a detailed quote before you finally go ahead with any service provider.
Unblocking stormwater pipe is often an expensive affair in most cases because of the complexities and the extensiveness of the problems involved. However, this is not something that you could do it yourself or a problem that you could delay addressing. One of the reasons why you should work only with an experienced service provider is because they will be able to assess your problems quickly. Secondly, they will know when you need to notify the council.
You could save yourself from most of these hassles and expensive bills by taking regular maintenance measures and preventive measures. Get help from your local plumbing company and get tips from them on regular maintenance tasks. You could also signup with them for regular cleaning of the water channels that often clog and block your stormwater pipelines. While it is important to compare quotes between service providers, you may not have the time to do so when your property is flooded with water. It is always good to have your plumbing companies screened well in advance so that you know whom to contact when you are in emergency plumbing situation.