Unclogging a Toilet

A clogged toilet can be cleared with a toilet auger. The pipes from a toilet to a sewer line or septic tank can be blocked by solid waste that accumulates on the inside walls of the pipes. Initial efforts with a plunger may be ineffective because the blockage is very rigid and will not slide easily away from the walls of the pipes. A toilet auger can be threaded from the toilet bowl into the sewer line and used to drill through the clog.

Procedure

Precautions should be taken to protect surrounding objects from the water in the toilet bowl before using a toilet auger to clear clogs. The water will be unsanitary and could contain bacteria that may cause diseases. The auger should be slowly threaded through the toilet bowl and into the sewer line. The handle is used to rotate the auger, which will move like a snake through the pipe and drill through the clog. The water in the toilet bowl should drain after the clog has been loosened by the toilet auger.

Preventative Actions

After the clog moves, the toilet should be flushed several times to push clear water through the pipes, which will help to clear the obstructions from the pipes. To avoid a clogged toilet in the future, the toilet should be repeatedly flushed and plunged each time that a flush process is very slow. If a toilet bowl slowly drains during a flush process, then the pipes may be slightly clogged with debris that will probably become rigid unless the obstructions are moved. Solid waste may cling to the inside walls of pipes and should be diluted with several flushes that may push the waste through the pipes.

A Denver Plumber should be involved in this as doing this yourself, if inexperienced, can cost a lot more than a simple service call would.