# un-deniable PROOF my plumbing instructor was right...



## SSP (Dec 14, 2013)

Remember that guy in plumbing school that just didn't believe two 45's are better for horizontal turns than a 90? Well well did i ever find a fine example to settle that debate!
During a Kitchen renovation i cut some 1-1/2 ABS to add a vent to serve kitchen sink which was 11' from nearest vent stack with three horizontal turns using 90's 
It was pretty rough, after i cut through pipe what happened next i can best describe as nasty loose diahrea flowing freely into a big steamer below the cut, and from every cut therein after, the brown pie kept a coming, but i noticed after basteerdizing the line the major build ups were on the 90's and compounded with lack of proper venting and piss poor grade they had at best %5-20 Inside pipe diameter availability.... it amazes me anything ever drained at all... :blink:


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

That is probably some deadly bacteria living inside that pipe. Don't get that sludge in a cut.


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## vinpadalino (Aug 27, 2010)

You should of ran some water and bleach or dawn dish soap down the drains first. It might of smelled better


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## love2surf927 (Dec 22, 2011)

Tommy plumber said:


> That is probably some deadly bacteria living inside that pipe. Don't get that sludge in a cut.


Deadly?? You think? What the heck were they putting in that drain, kitchen line? Never seen that kind of stuff come out of a kitchen line. Tommy, you're scaring me lol.


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## stillaround (Mar 11, 2009)

Nice drywall cut. right on the stud....


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

love2surf927 said:


> Deadly?? You think? What the heck were they putting in that drain, kitchen line? Never seen that kind of stuff come out of a kitchen line. Tommy, you're scaring me lol.











This has happened to me twice in my career: I cabled a drain line and the cable comes back with the nasty muck and sludge on it. I may have gotten some of the black sludge on me, I don't know. But that night I had chills, fever and just general flu-like symptoms. The chills were the kind where you wake up in the middle of the night sweating under the covers yet you're shivering and freezing cold. Just terrible. Twice that happened to me right after cabling a black sludge-filled cast iron drain line that day. And I wear the nitrile gloves and all of that.

I don't know if they are connected but I am very careful when pulling back the cable. And I am not a hypochondriac, I don't get sick often.


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## jtplumber (Jan 21, 2014)

A few years ago I was doing a break room TI on the 34th floor of a high rise in downtown Denver. There was a 2" type dwv line already there from a previous handsink. It ran about 64' to the stack and over two different offices and a lab. So I decided to put it on test and make sure it would still be operable. I had it on 5# for a day and a half waiting for engineer to sign off on it. I had my apprentice go to the gauge and release air while I climbed in ceiling to do final tie in. He radioed over and said all clear. I started to loosen Jim cap and realized it was still swollen, I didn't have time to tighten it again before it blew off and that horrible smelling sludge blew right in my face. I had headlamp, bandana, and safety glasses on but it was everywhere. I jumped out of ceiling and ran to restroom to wash off. Couldn't get it out. Took off everything above my waist and trashed it. Went down to parking garage threw pants in bed of truck and drove home. Next day I was ok but 36 hrs later I was dbl trouble sick for two weeks. Dr didn't know exactly what it was but it was bacterial from the drain. I still get an uneasy feeling in my stomach when I smell kitchen waste.


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## SSP (Dec 14, 2013)

I'm not a service guy so i really didn't expect the crap at all to be there! But hindsight is 20-20... i cut the line back to the vertical stack and replaced it all And snaked the line and flushed piping clear with a ton of hot water/soaps 

Its hardly a kitchen, as its defined in this office building but it has the fridge, dishwasher, sink, and coffee makers which i'm hoping is the primary culprit for the brown goodness ... because i have serviced and installed septic tanks that smelt better than this crap!

@JTplumber that's a close call you had and one hell of a story! lucky you didn't have further complications, us plumbers massively under-estimate the power of unforeseen illnesses like Hep C or others that could be lurking in the drains


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## jtplumber (Jan 21, 2014)

Def keep up on shots. Service or not. I also do flow test as well now. We had both ends cut and didn't see or smell anything until that point. After that GC and I decided not to reuse this pipe( even after 2500 to servpro) and on replacing found 12' belly where aome hangers were removed to add fiber optic basket.


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## philoplumb (Nov 25, 2013)

Our co. services a bookstore chain and each store has a coffee bar. The one near west L.A. has a bad drain from the main sink they use as the primary washout for the front counter. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever smelt as bad as what i clean out of that line. The customers complain and all I can tell management is this problem will continue until I get authorization to re-run the drain properly. I think the milk products are the biggest cause of smell and blockage. Bacterial growth is phenomenal. And I take precautions for myself, and the staff. Please be careful. I have been lucky to only get sick a few times, and it ain't pretty.


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## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

I had to replace a floor sink next to a dairy cooler that they would use to pour all the rotten milk and other dairy down. I've also had to snake that drain several times. That's nasty. I also got to clean the trough drain in the dairy cooler. Another fun one.


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## HP plumber (Sep 4, 2013)

I heard of a plumber I used to work with that cut his arm on a pice of cast iron and wound up in the hospital with staff infection.


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## jtplumber (Jan 21, 2014)

Please be careful. I have been lucky to only get sick a few times, and it ain't pretty.[/QUOTE] Yes, be careful out there. We protect others health and safety and sometimes might not see or know the danger WE are in.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

A friend of mine got a job at a prison as one of the staff plumbers. He had athletes foot, and jumped in a ditch to make a repair on a busted sewer pipe. He let his foreman bully him into the raw sewage without wearing his rubber boots. He died a week later from what was called "blood poisoning" Boys, be careful out there, nobody gives two craps about any of us. It's up to us to own our safety.

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## plumbing ninja (Jan 15, 2012)

I commissioned a automatic filter used for nozzle protection on an aeration system at a WWTP a while back! They were pumping pre-screened waste water from n open channel to a pond When they started the pumps the turbulence kicked up a lot of water and being a windy day it sprayed me on the face in a fine mist. The moisture got onto my lips and I had a faint taste in my mouth. Everyone on site all had their shots since they were going to be there for a while. I was there only for an hour max (only setting up auto back wash cycles for timer sequence and diff press back up on control panel) and it didn't dawn on me to get jabs. A day later, ill and then later hospitalised for 3 days on a drip n then spent weekend at home in bed. Lost 20lbs in a week. Health & Safety at work n on site all ducked for cover and pointed out the signs and clauses for signing onto site n claimed I was notified verbally. It all came down to being my fault for not taking precautions and ignoring notices. Now I get my jabs annually regardless if I'm going there or not. Better to be safe than sorry


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## BOBBYTUCSON (Feb 8, 2013)

I run into this black sludge all the time here and never get my shots.i dont beleive in vaccinations.i have gotten sick a few times really bad and its my fault as i learned the hard way by not washing my hands and eating lunch after i snaked some really bad drains.now i go through hercules and blue monster wipes like crazy and always wash my hands. Had fever and chills at night with nausea and diareah. Bad **** in the drains down here in tucson


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## Caduceus (Mar 1, 2012)

If we're talking safety, let's not forget about insulin syringes used by junkies.
I've found storm sewers clogged with syringes and there are popular stash spots in restaurants and hotels for employees who like to shoot up at work.
Toilet tank lids (under the lid rim), inside toilet paper rolls and dispensers, janitor's closets and grease trap rooms. Even behind buildings where there are planters, milk crates stacked or behind rain leaders. Watch where you put your hands, never reach blindly into somewhere or something. I have found syringes in all of these places and they usually go unnoticed until you move something to get to whatever plumbing you're working on.


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## titaniumplumbr (Jun 11, 2014)

Yeah sh$& runs downhill


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