Residential storm inlet overflowing and blocked in the car park.
Removed water but was unsure what to do next or how the mechanics of the inlet work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Storm inlet drain blocked
drain
Related Solutions
One frequent cause of backups is that a root from a tree or large bush has grown into the pipe. If that's happened to you, you'll need to dig up the clogged area to sever the root and then repair the pipe, or if it's a porous drain pipe, wrap it in a landscaping fabric.
As Tester says, use a snake to see what you can find. You can also measure the distance until the snake gets stuck to get an idea of where you need to dig. Pay attention to any bends you feel the snake making on the off chance it isn't a straight run to the front.
Once you have an idea from one side, I'd fill the drain up with water on a dry day and see if you can find the outlet. Then try snaking from that outlet as well since the clog may be a long one from sediment building up over time. Again, measure the distance, and now you'll have an overall area to check.
Your garage drain could go anywhere--it could be tied into your septic system or sewer connection, or it could go to a separate exterior drywell or leach field. It could even head into a sump pit to be pumped out by a sump pump. Its impossible to know without a whole lot more information about your specific circumstance.
As to how to unclog it, your best bet may be a high-pressure water jet snake.
These can be rented from tool rental outfits, or you could call in a professional. They tend to be better at removing sandy-type clogs than conventional drain snakes.
Best Answer
I assume that is a pic taken standing over the storm drain looking down into it. How interesting that someone put a sewer cleanout in there. Don't mess with that cleanout unless you want the problem to get worse real quick, I am sure it has nothing to do with handling rainwater.
Do you know where this is supposed to exit? Is it running underground to an outlet downhill somewhere? If you don't know where it goes to you probably shouldn't mess with this one.
If you know where the outlet is you MIGHT be able to put a pump in there and run a garden hose with a pressure nozzle on it down into there with the water on full and the pump keeping the drain empty and if there's no sharp bends you might be able to clear the blockage out if it's just mud. I would start with the exit end, though. If you cannot find it that doesn't mean it's not there, more likely it's a victim of years of neglect and is buried.
Sometimes these things ended up running into a sewer line or sometimes into an underground "french drain" To do this job right if you can't find the outflow you need a sewer endoscope and a sewer line locator the tooling alone is a couple grand.