Get matched with top sewer cleaners in Wilson, OK

Thankfully, it’s pretty rare to find a rat in your toilet. It’s more likely in larger cities with big sewer systems that can be feeding grounds for rats, but even then, you still shouldn’t fret. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about rats coming up through the sewers,” Bradshaw says. “I’d say only one out of a thousand rodent customers we get actually have this problem. And of the 20 or some customers that have had this happen, they’ve all only had just one rat come up this way.”

A two-way cleanout can help if there’s already a clog, but the best strategy to prevent one is by not rinsing grease, oil, or fat down your drains, not flushing or rinsing coffee grounds or egg shells down your drains, flushing only human waste and toilet paper (so no diapers, period products, bathroom wipes, or paper towels), and using drain guards on all of your drains.

It can take anywhere from one month to a couple of years for tree roots to grow back in sewer lines. Tree roots can cause extreme havoc on your sewer lines, potentially cracking them and causing untreated wastewater to make its way into the groundwater. Have a landscaping pro remove trees and roots before installing your system, or call a pro to do it retroactively as soon as you can.

It might be possible to dissolve hair caught in a drain, but it’s usually not a good way to go about clearing the clog. Some sources mention that baking soda and vinegar can do the trick, but this won’t actually dissolve the hair. The hydrochloric acid in drain cleaners can dissolve the hair over time, but it will much more quickly destroy your plumbing pipes and leave you with bigger issues. The best way to remove hair is to do it manually with a drain snake or to have a plumber use an auger to pull clogs out.