Minor Maintenance

The cesspit outside the kitchen was showing signs of overflowing so time to clean out the drain pipe. This happens every 4 months or so and is fixed in an hour or so. Reason is the kitchen added to the rear of the house by the previous owners. The drain pipe of which runs almost horizontally round the back to reach the main drains on the other side of the house. The previous owners didn't have a dishwasher but we do and the gunk that produces slowly builds up.

To facilitate cleaning I added a second cesspit at the corner between the first stretch of pipe and the last length towards the main drain. It sits a bit deeper and is normally covered by three layers of square paving stones.

So out comes the Kärcher with the pipe-cleanig attachment, a long extension lead and the garden hose. A pair of disposable gloves is very recommended as are a few plastic bags to receive scooped-up gunk from both cesspits.

With both cesspits open I can start. First the pipe between main drain and this cesspit, always working from the end towards the start of each pipe, then this end of the first drain pipe and then the rest from the other end via the cesspit near the kitchen. It's all routine and relatively quickly done.