Tag: storm water pipes

Summer is our wet season in Queensland and spring is the ideal time to check the external plumbing around your home. No one wants a moat around their house when the storms and rains inevitably hit.

Here are some checks and maintenance tips you can do around your house to ensure the water flows where it needs to go.

1. Clean your roof and remove debris

The roof is the largest surface area of your home, and it’s the first surface to be hit by rain. Ensure your roof is clean and debris-free so that when the rain does hit, it doesn’t wash accumulated debris through your gutters or downpipes, causing a blockage.

2. Empty gutters of leaf debris

Cleaning your gutters is an important job every spring to ensure there is no leaf litter preventing the water from flowing through each channel to the storm water drains. Leaf matter can break down and congeal in downpipes. This can cause a back-up of water when it storms or rains, and this water has nowhere to go except overflow the edges of the gutters, falling around the house often causing an external flood.

3. Inspect rusty gutters and down pipes and ensure correct fall

Every spring, your gutters and down pipes should be inspected for rust and openings which can cause a water to fall through, instead of being directed away from the home through the existing storm water drainage. Have rusty gutters and down pipes replaced as soon as possible to avoid the drama of an external flood during storm season.

Also check for backfall of gutters. The correct fall ensures the water flows towards the downpipes, not away from them.

4. Inspect storm water grates

Often significant rain events can wash sand and dirt down storm water grates. This needs to be emptied to ensure a free channel of water to flow through when the next rain event hits. Click here to read more about storm water.

5. Ask your plumber to calculate the right number of downpipes for your roof surface area

Some houses just don’t have enough down pipes to meet the capacity of water fall from the surface area of their roof. If you think this is a problem at your property, call Salmon Plumbing out to investigate and offer a solution. This could be an opportunity to add a rainwater tank or two to be prepared for drought.

6. Have the correct sized storm water pipes underground

Most storm water pipes underground around houses are 90mm PVC. Often this pipe is not big enough for the amount of water that flows through the down pipes. Upgrading these pipes can help prevent a moat situation around your house during a heavy rain event.

Keeping gardens maintained and away from storm water grates ensures water can flow to where it needs to go when it matters most.

The external plumbing to your home is vitally important to prevent floods around your house. External floods can cause damage inside your house, by seeping through window and door openings. It’s an inconvenience that can be avoided with the right storm water drainage around your home.

Another health concern to be aware of is any type of pooling of water in gutters and around the home can also attract mosquitoes. The pools of water offer mozzies the the perfect spot to breed. This is a health concern as mosquitoes can spread the Zika Virus and Ross River Fever. Ensuring adequate storm water drainage can prevent mozzies making a home at your home.

If you have a storm water blockage or have concerns about how rain water is channeled away from your home, give Salmon Plumbing a call. Our plumbers can offer solutions so you’re better prepared when the wet weather hits this summer.