Ideally, all the wastewater from your house runs from your house outside to a sewer line or septic tank. However, it doesn't always happen that way, which is when something called backflow happens. But, what is backflow, and what can you do to make sure it doesn't happen in your house?

Backflow

Backflow is basically exactly what it sounds like. It is the flow of wastewater back into your house. The wastewater that is flowing back into your house can contaminate your water supply, or just cause a backup that you have to deal with before it gets too bad. There are two kinds of backflow, back pressure and back-siphonage.

Back pressure happens when the pressure in the system is higher than the pressure in the supply. For example, if your septic tank is full, the pressure from that could become greater than the pressure from flushing your toilet, so the waste from your toilet starts to come back up through your toilet and possibly your sinks.

Back siphonage happens when the pressure inside of the supply is lowered below the pressure of the system. For example, if you have a leak that is causing the water to drain out of your incoming plumbing, the pressure is lowered, and water can be siphoned back from where it goes into the waste pipes. There are things that you can do to help prevent either kind of backflow from happening. 

Backflow Prevention

There are certain systems that you can install so that they automatically prevent backflow. It isn't anything that you can do manually, since you would have to continuously check on it. Automatic systems are going to be much more efficient and effective. There are different kinds of preventors that can be used. One kind is a check valve. The check valve is designed to only let water flow in one direction. These valves have two openings, one for the water to go in and one for the water to go out. Inside the valve, there is something that is used to block the first opening so that water can't go back out through the incoming valve. That could be as simple as a ball that goes up into the incoming valve when it is closed. 

Backflow is a major problem. If you are dealing with it, then you need to get a plumber out to your house immediately so that you can take care of the problem before it gets worse. For more information, contact a backflow service near you to learn more.