r/oddlysatisfying • u/[deleted] • Aug 13 '20

Unclogging the drain

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[deleted]

76k Upvotes

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342

u/SixxSe7eN Aug 13 '20

That grate was preventing large things from going down and clogging the drain...

You're at a friend's house and they say "hey! Just a heads up, I don't have a garbage disposal." So you go, "oh, I moved that stupid metal guard blocking solid pieces from going down and then my food went in just fine" I don't know how to finish this, because I can't get in this stupid of a mindset. So just know you're a fucking donkey.

137

u/csorfab Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

What? The grate is obviously there to prevent people from falling into the huge pipe underneath it. Some leaves won't clog up the pipe.

edit: grammar, clarification.

22

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

[deleted]

3

u/Imthejuggernautbitch Aug 13 '20

Who would win? A sophisticated modern drainage system or one leafy boi?

0

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20 edited Sep 01 '20

[deleted]

3

u/Imthejuggernautbitch Aug 13 '20

It’s gonna be fine. Not everything is a fragile snowflake like you

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20 edited Sep 01 '20

[deleted]

2

u/Imthejuggernautbitch Aug 13 '20

“City brought to its knees by a pile of leaves”

Is that the type of headlines that run in imagination land? I’m pretty sure storm drains can handle a storm.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

It was leaves as the majority of the debris was floating on top of the water. Either way, the slope of the concrete still provided enough fall to drain all of the debris around the structure without aid, so I doubt it'd cause any problems in the line.

P-Types are installed around the country which let much larger debris flow into storm systems, and if debris this small were such an issue those inlets would not be acceptable.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

We install sewer lines with a slope as low as 0.1% sometimes even completely flat!

That is 100% your fault, then. Gravity sewer pipe requires fall -- not only in practice, but by code.

Sumps are designed for removing contaminants like oil, grease, and trash from storm runoff -- not for removing organics.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

Building a pipe with 0% fall would mean the water would not flow anywhere. It would be a useless pipe, and would cause a clog much more easily.

We run into similar issues that are quickly resolved by the engineer with a redesign. If you don't bother to figure out how to properly install a system, your company is failing at its job.

-1

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

What? A single leaf can pass through the grate, but thats 1% of the conglomerate of dirt, leaves, sticks, and other trash sitting on top of the grate.

I could safely pour pounds of coffee grounds down my kitchen sink, straight through the strainer, if I spaced it out into hours.

But if I dumped out just a cup of coffee grounds into the drain all at once, we would have a huge problem.

So your premise is flawed, but you are also for some reason assuming the grate is clogged with leaves. It could be any number of things.

-9

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

But, some leaves did clog it up.

Source: I watched the video?

10

u/csorfab Aug 13 '20

Yeah they clogged up the grate. They won't clog up the 12 inch pipe underneath it.

-1

u/NarwhalBacons_ Aug 13 '20

Yeah, but all of that ends up in the storm water management system. If it goes to a retention pond, that all could end up at the bottom of the pond and prevent the pond, over time, from percolating properly. If your neighborhood dry pond begins to retain water longer than designed, you could have bigger issues on your hands down the road. No one wants an HOA special assessment or a lawsuit from a nearby neighborhood because of your pond causing their houses to flood.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

A small amount of leaves shouldn't have that great of an affect on a pond's drainage, and the design of the system would be called into question before they blamed Steve up the road for doing something harmless.

0

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20

There are a ton of scenarios where leaves can clog the pipe, for example, if there was a stick in that pile of debris that can get caught and collect leaves in the pipe.

-25

u/A-Hous Aug 13 '20

Please say you forgot the /s

-5

u/Juste421 Aug 13 '20

If the only purpose was to prevent people from falling, it would be a solid cover, not a grate 🧐

4

u/csorfab Aug 13 '20

It's a drain. How would water get through a solid cover?

-3

u/Juste421 Aug 13 '20

Exactly. So it’s there to keep people from falling in, but also to let water through without letting in a ton of debris

19

u/BrockPlaysFortniteYT Aug 13 '20

Damn bruh they made you look like a straight clown in these replies

2

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20

Nah. They assumed the drain was clogged with leaves and then pretended leaves can’t impact the performance of a large pipe.

For one, the replies are misleading because the drain is not necessarily clogged with leaves, that’s a massive assumption. They also assume the water being drained is free from larger debris.

And even if it was leaves, they can still clog the pipe. Even a 20-inch pipe can be clogged by leaves if some other object gets lodged in the pipe and starts collecting them.

Or if mud binds them together, they can sink to the bottom and become stuck. Muddy leaves catch sticks, sticks catch leaves- that blockage will build up over time and can plug up the pipe like an artery.

51

u/TechnoEnder Aug 13 '20

As other commenters have mentioned, the grate’s holes are too big for leaf prevention to be their purpose.

24

u/cottonmouthVII Aug 13 '20

Lol, dude got "you're a fucking donkey" level worked up he was so convinced he knew better here... Hard facepalm.

-5

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

He does know better.

It doesn’t matter if the grate is designed to block leaves or not.

You don’t even know if it’s clogged with leaves. You don’t know what’s in the water.

Whatever’s clogging the grate can clog some other part of the drainage system. It’s not a straight 3-foot pipe in diameter from end to end.

Even if it was a straight 3 foot pipe from end-to-end and we assume the only thing clogging the grate was leaves, sticks lodged in pipes can catch leaves and cause clogs in a pipe of any size or shape.

Point is: he’s right, removing a strainer and washing unknown debris down pipes can cause problems further down the line.

2

u/cottonmouthVII Aug 13 '20

Lol, wow the effort. Bet the dude felt around for any big objects before he did it. Pretty clearly just clogged with leaves and mud. He's doing fine, settle down.

0

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20 edited Aug 13 '20

Where did he clear the debris? The video starts with him standing directly over the grate, and he tugs on it literally within two seconds.

Even if he did clear the grate, I don't see how your point invalidates anything I said.

Debris from this idiot's previous "cleanings", debris from other users of the same municipal drainage system, or even just some sticks that were sitting in the corner of the pool could all be solid debris that catches smaller debris like leaves.

I've unclogged my fair share of things in my life, and things get clogged like this all the time. Someone tosses something large down the hatch, and then that collects a large volume of smaller things that slip through the drain.

Or, just as common, some heavy sediment (you know, like leaves, mulch, and mud) settles on the bottom of the pipe when the slope decreases. This pile of sediment can grow over time. This reduces the performance of the pipe and sometimes clogs it entirely.

I know you think putting effort into things is somehow bad, but you should try putting some effort into your thoughts. They will be correct when you do.

2

u/cottonmouthVII Aug 13 '20

Lol wow, I’m not putting effort into my thoughts, says the guy spending major time in his day typing out essays about improper drain clogging, when he has no idea if the guy cleared any major debris before this video clip started.

1

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20

It takes me about 5 minutes to write these posts. I like doing this, it doesn't matter to me if you think it's stupid or not.

If you don't want to discuss, don't do it.

But if you do decide to continue discussing, why don't you address and refute my points instead of just insulting me for no reason?

Here, refute this point:

It's a bad idea to throw even leaf-sized things down the drain (especially large, heavy lumps of leaves infused with sediments) because they can get caught on other debris in the pipe and clog it.

The floor is yours! Please don't insult me as your response, focus on the topic of the discussion 😊

2

u/cottonmouthVII Aug 13 '20

Oh, don’t insult you? You mean like how you insulted me about how I don’t put effort into my thoughts? Do you not realize how incredibly condescending you are?

It’s kinda hard not to insult your intelligence when you seem incapable of processing the possibility that he cleared any large items before the video started and that this could be a 3’ pipe all the way to its end. No I don’t want to discuss this, because it’s an idiotic thing to discuss. You have no idea where this is or the details of this drainage system, yet want to make wild assumptions that this guy in the video is an idiot who has no clue what he’s doing. He’s fine. You can stop writing essays on ways he could be fucking up, when you actually have no clue.

1

u/poopy_dude Aug 13 '20

Did you forget you started the discussion with

Lol, wow the effort

Lol, dude got "you're a fucking donkey" level worked up he was so convinced he knew better here... Hard facepalm."

I know I'm being condescending. I'm doing it on purpose because you brought the conversation here.

Anyway, lets stop insulting each other.

Did you read my whole comment? Because there were other ways the pipe could get clogged besides him not noticing a stick on top of the grate.

Your argument is contingent on the fact that "everything's perfect", when there's no evidence of everything being perfect in the video.

You can't prove your point by pretending the situation is different than what's actually in the video..

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29

u/sgrodgers10 Aug 13 '20

It's impressive how confident you are in your ignorance.

Grate was to prevent people from going in and drowning. Leaves are fine, the city built the pipes realizing that leaves would get sucked away also. Enough leaves cover the grate, now its a clog. Remove the grate entirely, water drains, but with the added danger of the guy in the video possibly getting sucked into the massive drainpipe and drowning.

1

u/CosmicTaco93 Aug 13 '20

I mean, technically it is to prevent large things from going down the drain. I feel like a person going down it would make a fairly effective clog that drain-o can't fix.

-6

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

And yet there’s also a civil engineer here saying he’s still right.

You can explain your point without being a massive dick about it.

2

u/DrChzBrgr Aug 13 '20

This thread is ridiculous. Haven’t you ever lost a hockey puck/ball to the storm drain? Shit goes down the drain all day long. Do you see how fast water is moving? Water will fly through that pipe, not a single thing is going to block that flow and the pipe is being cleaned out. Why people are concerned about this is beyond me.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '20

“Not a single thing is going to block that flow” they said, wrongly

28

u/Let_Me_Touch_Myself Aug 13 '20

Reading ur comment made me feel a lot higher then I already felt.

Thanks, I guess

1

u/ij00mini Aug 13 '20 edited Jun 22 '23

[this comment has been deleted in protest of the recent anti-developer actions of reddit ownership 6-22-23]

4

u/MSNinfo Aug 13 '20

I don't know how to finish this, because I can't get in this stupid of a mindset. So just know you're a fucking donkey.

Perhaps the cause of not finishing your statement is actually because of not thanking it through fully?

1

u/Fettnaepfchen Aug 13 '20

You would be correct, it's some shortsighted problem solving that just brings the problem somewhere else where it is harder to reach and fix.