how to remove standing water in my shower pipe?

zildjian09

in my shower, as you look down the plughole there is a lot of standing water which has a slightly dirty tinge to it. i have poured a drain cleaner down but it has not removed the standing water. it is fairly close to the plughole surface so whenever i have a shower, the water tends to back up in the shower tray. not to a major extent but i didn't know if this had anything to do with it.

does anyone know how i can get rid of this standing water or is it supposed to be there?! thanks

Aquatronixjenny

You should have a small amount of water in the trap, it stops the smell from the drain coming up into the bathroom. There shouldn't be loads though.

The 'off the shelf' drain cleaner isn't really much good to be honest, its too weak to shift the really nasty stuff. I am reluctant to recommend the strong acid cleaner as if you are not very experienced and don't take the right precautions when using it you can really hurt yourself. Also, if you have previously put an alkaline cleaner down there it can cause a nasty reaction.

Best bet would be to call a plumber, tell them you have already used a drain cleaner (show him the bottle so he can see what is in it) and ask him to either use the strong acid cleaner or pop a coring machine down there.

Another option, if you can get to the underside of the shower is to remove the waste trap, empty it and give it a good clean and then reassemble. If it still blocks after that then you have a problem further down and will need acid/coring as above.

macman

The standing water is supposed to be there, it's the trap that prevents smells from coming back up from the drains.
Unscrew the the top part and see if you can clear any obstruction with a piece of wire or similar-it's probably full of soap scum and hair etc if it's backing up.
Drain cleaner will shift some of it, but not necessarily dissolve all the solid debris.

anotherbaldrick

If the waste hole looks a bit gungy get hold of the good old fashioned sink/drain plunger, put some water in the shower tray and give it a really energetic going over with the plunger . You will be surprised ( and totally revolted) by the crud this will bring up out of the hole. Have some old cloths to clean up the worst and then flush it all with a good spray down.

ormus

as above. an old fashioned rubber sink plunger is still a godsend.
cures lots of basic problems.

iveco_man

depending on age of trap you can take of top grating and remove the centre filter or strainer.