Many customers have discovered that regular applications of Bio-Clean and other Bioredex biological cleaners provide significant maintenance savings in multi-story buildings. These buildings range from towering office buildings to 2-4 story condo apartments that use common venting stacks to collect waste water.
To understand the benefits of using a biological cleaner, it helps to understand how multi-floor plumbing systems work. Typically, waste water (and "gray water") flow out of the building through a common top-vented vertical pipe known as a stack or soil-stack. Between the stack and each unit are "tributary" pipes flowing from fixtures (toilets, sinks, etc.) These lateral pipes contain a dipped section that acts as a trap with sitting water that acts as a barrier to sewage gases coming into the fixtures; in most cases it is required that there is also a small venting release close to the fixture, usually inside the wall. The main venting of gases occurs at the top of the stack, generally located on the roof of a building. This same vent is intended to help maintain neutral pressure throughout the building and also allow aerobic bacteria to aid in sewage "digestion."
At the bottom of the stack is the main drain which carries the waste water into a pipe running to the municipal sewage system.
SIGNS OF TROUBLE
While a major sewage stoppage affecting all tenants will get everyone's attention, persistent trouble signs are widespread slow drainage and foul odors. The typical prescription is to "clean the stack (or stacks)" which involves running a cable from the top of the stack to open up the drain at the bottom (similar to "snaking" a drain). More sophisticated cleaning can range from use of "jets" and remote cameras lowered into the stack. In some cases of severe "hard" blockages, this type of maintenance be called-for, but it is costly and as a rule it will not solve the problem of on-going waste accumulations which are not reached by these methods. Certain types of external treatments can actually increase the problems by forcing sludge into lateral piping.
BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS TREAT THE PROBLEM AND SAVE MONEY
Regular application of effective Bioredex proucts such as Bio-Clean or Bioredex SD (Sludge Digester) liquid can be easily and safely applied by regular staff or even residents. With a strong initial treatment followed by weekly or bi-weekly use the bio-additive at the drain level of the building, natural enzymes and bacteria will go to work keeping sludge buildup to a minimum at the primary point where blockage occurs. Friendly bacteria will also eat its way into the sewage connecting pipes, providing a cleaner pathway away from the building.
To supplement treatments at the ground floor, individual fixtures can also be treated where there are problems and as part of an overall "healthy" pipes program.
RECOMMENDED TREATMENT
Please note that each building may have a different situation requiring some experimentation with dosage amounts and frequency. Remember that Bio-Clean and other Bioredex products are completely non-toxic and harmless to any type of piping material, so greater concentrations will have no adverse effect. Furthermore, the products are very economical - even more so when purchased in the bulk size, such as the 25-pound bucket.
1. Assess your situation: a complete blockage will first require some type of physical opening of the drain pipe. Bio-additives are true cleaning agents, but they can't deliver brute-force opening when the pipe is blocked by a non-organic object or organic waste has become so large and compacted that there is no flow of water.
2. Begin remedial treatment: Sometimes called "shock treatment," the initial phase of bio-additive application calls for greater dosing with more frequency. You will want to apply the treatment to all drains and toilets on the first floor, and/ or basement if there is one, over 5-7 days. As little as a tablespoon in a pint of room temperature water per drain can be effective; a good guideline will be one tablespoon for every inch of drain width. You will also want to add a cup of powder close to the main drain to get into the sewer connection line. A guideline here will be a one cup in a pint for every 100 feet of sewer line. (This is the approximate length of the line from your building to the main sewer system, typically about the distance to the main road.)
If the problem is especially severe, continue the program for another week or so. After that time, a weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly application should be instituted, based on the size of the property, water usage, and special situations such as common kitchens or high levels of grease discharge.
3. Important Considerations: Treatments should take place at times of minimal water usage over 6-8 hours to give the friendly bacteria time to take hold and do its work. In an office building this will generally be overnight, but residential properties will have to look for the best times based on their tenants' lifestyles. It would be a good idea to enlist the support of residents in determining the times and also to keep their usage down during these times.
4. Application on upper floors: The drains on upper floors do not necessarily require the same level of frequency and dosage initially as the ground floors. Exceptions to this would be where individual units are experiencing very slow drainage and/ or odors. In any case, monthly treatments are a good idea for all drains throughout the building.
Tenants or residents should be encouraged to support ongoing plumbing "health" of their property:
- Minimize or avoid use of garbage disposals - better to put chunks of food in regular trash for landfill or a common compost collection
- Use only biodegradable soaps and detergents that do not inhibit bacterial digestion of waste. (Avoid "antibacterial" detergent - they do more harm than good and have not been shown to prevent colds!)
- Use effective, economical bioadditives such as Bio-Clean (suggestion - purchase discounted case lots of our 2-pound jars that include a measuring scoop and distribute to each unit)
Purchase a bucket of Bio-Clean
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