Fascinating facts about sewers

It is often assumed that the work of waste is grim and unpleasant, and sometimes it can be. Professionals need to service and maintain gutters and drains around the country. However, when cleaning a fatberg or working in a small space isn’t much fun, even if this is not always the case. Here are some unique and interesting facts about drains that you may not be aware of:

1. They do not smell. Well, not always. Only 2% of what goes into the sewer is solid. Instead they have a sort of soily smell. In fact, at certain times of the day, especially in the morning and evening they can smell pretty sweet with the aroma of all the shampoo and other cleaning products that are being washed away.

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2. This is where you’ll find the internet. Chances are if you are using a fibre-optic broadband, the cable runs through the sewers. To avoid unnecessary building work and interference when launching a fibre optic cable internet, companies often use the existing sewer network.
3. They are actually quite beautiful, at least in terms of architecture. Most of our sewer system was built in Victorian times. This means they are mostly made of bricks placed by hand. To look at them is enough evidence of the expertise involved.
4. Wet wipes do not break down. As you may have heard in media reports and from the water companies, you should not flush wet wipes. They were not damaged in the water and instead hold on to fats, oils and fats that have been solidified in the gutters, exacerbating existing blockage. Where there are damaged or blocked drains, rectifying problems can prove costly and invasive, causing widespread disruption. That’s why many homeowners and businesses choose to use CCTV survey reports to see what problems might be lurking underground on their property. For Groundwork companies Bristol, visit a site like https://www.chewvalleyconstruction.co.uk/
5. There are people whose work is entirely based in the sewers. The role was created when sewers were first completed in Victorian times and they are known as ‘flushers’. Nowadays they usually have better titles like sewer technician sewer, but they are still mostly known as flushers.

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6. It is a miracle that many sewers are still working as they are. As mentioned, many were built in the Victorian era to handle about half of the population we have now. But most are still strong. They sometimes become blocked but mainly because of things that are inappropriate are being discarded down the drains.