Plumbing issue

[Mace]

You guys are gonna love this...

My mother was having a mosquito problem in her house. Which is odd because she lives in Vegas as well and we flat out do not have mosquito's around here. It seems that what was happening was the mosquito's were living and breeding in her septic tank (or in the lines somewhere) VERY odd to say the least.

Any way, she taped up a lot of the drains and then she went and got some granulated insect killer. Then she proceeded to pour the granulated insect killer down the drain in her guest bath.. Add a tad of water to wash it down, and blammo! instant concrete in her bathtub drain...

The tub now drains very slowly. There is not a direct access on the outside of the house for the drain so a snake has to do some interesting things.. Liquid plumber sucks.. The bug killer company will not fess up with something that will break down their product.

I am almost expecting to have to pull the tub to do the necessary fix job..

Damnit..

 

[splitshot]

Maybe need to run a hose off the hot water tap on the water heater...Sounds like a cold plug to me.

 

[Mace]

hot hot water does not seem to help much

 

[splitshot]

I'm at a loss also, how would mosquitos get into a septic tank and be a problem this time of year? I take it there is no snake access from a roof vent or a 2 way clean out at the slab?

 

[Mace]

She actually did this a while ago. so it has a quite a while to solidify..

The whole thing sucks...

 

[fj40charles]

Jason,

Try pouring some vinegar down it. Vinegar will break down the binding of concrete.

I use Vinegar to dissolve concrete you get on the car.

Charles

 

[Mace]

Think vinegar will dissolve anti bug chemicals? lol

I'll give it a try!

 

[-Spike-]

See if you can recreate the plug where you can see it, then see what substance breaks it down best.

 

[Darl Bundren]

You may have already tried this, but get a plunger that has the bottom opening that's narrower than the width of the plunger overall. Like so:

Fill the tub with five or so inches of water. Then, fill the inside of the plunger with water, cover the plunger opening with your hand to keep all the water in, invert it over the drain, and remove your hand. Most of the water should still be inside the plunger. Then, plunge a few times. Repeat a couple more times. This may work. The hydraulic pressure works pretty good on clogs.

Some things to consider:

Don't get all crazy with the snake because you may have PVC lines, and they may crack.

Also, if you're pretty sure that the insect killer made it to the tank, pump the tank because the poison will probably kill off all the critters that break down the waste.

Do you know if you have traps in your lines? Use all the fixtures so often to flush the standing water out. Adios, mosquitos!

 

[EricG]

I kind of doubt the mosquitoes were living in the septic tank itself. And even if they were, adult mosquitoes shouldn't have been able to get past the traps. All your drains have traps, right?

Maybe they could live in the traps that were rarely used, though I've never heard of that. In any case, I'd bet a table spoon or so of clorox down the trap once in awhile would be more then adequate to kill the larvae. But I'm guessing you have standing water somewhere else.

As for the clog - I think Spike has the right idea. You might also try rigging up a piece of flexible plastic tubing to stick down the drain and circulate hot water directly against the blockage.

 

[Mace]

You may have already tried this, but get a plunger that has the bottom opening that's narrower than the width of the plunger overall. Like so:

Fill the tub with five or so inches of water. Then, fill the inside of the plunger with water, cover the plunger opening with your hand to keep all the water in, invert it over the drain, and remove your hand. Most of the water should still be inside the plunger. Then, plunge a few times. Repeat a couple more times. This may work. The hydraulic pressure works pretty good on clogs.

Some things to consider:

Don't get all crazy with the snake because you may have PVC lines, and they may crack.

Also, if you're pretty sure that the insect killer made it to the tank, pump the tank because the poison will probably kill off all the critters that break down the waste.

Do you know if you have traps in your lines? Use all the fixtures so often to flush the standing water out. Adios, mosquitos!

Toilet plunger just blows up the vent in the tub.
This house was built in 1972. I doubt that the pipes are PVC.
Mom did this like 2 years ago (shows how often she uses this tub huh..)
I have no clue if the tub has traps. Vegas builds with no crawl spaces under houses. The pipes are run in the concrete slabs themselves.

I kind of doubt the mosquitoes were living in the septic tank itself. And even if they were, adult mosquitoes shouldn't have been able to get past the traps. All your drains have traps, right?

Maybe they could live in the traps that were rarely used, though I've never heard of that. In any case, I'd bet a table spoon or so of clorox down the trap once in awhile would be more then adequate to kill the larvae. But I'm guessing you have standing water somewhere else.

As for the clog - I think Spike has the right idea. You might also try rigging up a piece of flexible plastic tubing to stick down the drain and circulate hot water directly against the blockage.

The idea caught me as fishy as well. However, the skeeters did seem to be coming out of the drains. Hell, it's Vegas, The freaking skeeters don't even live here!

 

[agomez]

more than likely the bulk of the material is stuck in the trap..I would try a plumbers snake to access the clog....on a side note make sure you ventilate the room if your going to try some chemical cocktails...

 

[Mace]

on a side note make sure you ventilate the room if your going to try some chemical cocktails...

No kidding. That is my biggest concern about playing with different chemicals to take care of the problem.

 

[Darl Bundren]

Did you fill the plunger with water? Some of the force will come out of the vent. It has worked for me in the past (though I haven't tried to blast through mortarlike blocks using this method).

And I'll bet that the mosquitos live and hatch in the stagnant water in the traps or in low spots in the line. Have your mom flush the lines a couple of times a month or so, and the mosquitos should disappear.

 

[Toyo FJ40]

Pull the overflow of the tub and stuff a rag into the pipe so when you plunge it the force goes to the clog not the overflow. Also plungers work best on the pull not the push. If you do snake the drain, snake it from the overflow. That goes straight down to the trap.

 

[haystax]

You may be able to agitate through the overflow and get some gunk to come back into the tub. The overflow may just tie into the drain arm though. In typical slab foundation plumbing the trap isn't in the slab just the drain line. The slab should be boxed out under the tub so you may be able to get into the wall or something and get at the trap that way.

Good luck. Plumbing clogs suck ass. I am still trying to determine if a cloth diaper liner got stuck in my pipes or made it to the tank. Toddlers and flush anything toilets don't mix.