My house is on a private road which is tarmaced. Immediately outside the house is a surface water drain. The drain appears to be silted up and im concerned a heavy storm could cause flooding around the house. As the drain is on a private road I can't ask the council to attend to it.
From the picture is it possible to identify what sort of drain this is – is it a soak away or does it drain into a sewer?
Most importantly, can anyone suggest a good way to unblock this drain, is it just a case of scooping out as much silt as I can? If I employed a company do tackle it, does anyone know how they would approach the problem?
Many thanks in advance.
EDIT: Just to say a local company quoted me £140 +VAT to use a 'jetvac' lorry. As the name suggests they use high water pressure to clear the drain and suck the silt away.
Best Answer
The drainage grate you can see sits over a catch basin (a box about 12" deep). There will be a pipe exiting the box about half way up. This is so the box can be half way filled before the pipe is in danger of clogging. The drain should properly lead to a natural drainage point such as a street gutter, drainage ditch or creek bed. It should not be connected to a sewer as that would place an extra load on the treatment plant. The pipe's exit (where it "daylights") is likely to be nearby.
To clear the drain first clean out the box using a trowel or a small bucket. To clear the pipe use a a "snake" tool. (commonly used for clearing drains and available at most hardware stores) As you loosen material with the snake use a garden hose with the maximum pressure and flow to bring the debris out of the pipe. A lot of water will be needed because the pipe is sloped away from the box so you will be removing material in the uphill direction. You will have to clear the box of water and debris frequently with a small bucket. Because the box is already filled with debris I suspect there is substantial debris in the pipe and it may be difficult to clear. I would certainly give it a go myself before calling a professional.
If you can locate where the pipe discharges, and the distance is not too great, you can try working from that end. Then you have the advantage of the flow of water coming back down the pipe clears the loosened debris as the slope is now in your favor. Be prepared to call a roto-rooter service if the clog is bad.