Plumbing/toilet problem - help please!

code-a-holic

Hi,
For a few days our toilet has been emptying very slowly and yesterday was obviously blocked.
After a go with plunger it seems to be unblocked but now all the water is going when we flush. Have poured water in from a bucket then flushed and all the water will go.
Does anybody have experience of this problem? Dont want to pay to get a plumber out!

rizla01

I would say that this has something to do with the vent to the system being blocked or something.

If the water was to flow away at pace then if there was no way of drawing air into the system then it would draw everything from the U - bend, hence the water loss

It is definitely syphoning, isn't it.

Is this upstairs or down?

Avoriaz

Do you mean that all the water disappears from the pan instead of leaving a small amount at the bottom.

This is required to prevent smells rising from the sewer pipe.

I assume that you tried flushing it normally without adding a bucket full of water, though even then a small amount should remain?

Maybe the soil pipe vent has somehow become blocked. Can you check that?

code-a-holic

Hi,
Tried flushing on its own and it leaves water so its just visable at the bottom of the bowl. The plunger isnt doing anything anymore -will get a drain unblocker tomorrow and try that.
Its a downstairs toilet.

Canucklehead

Hi

Lift the lid on your manhole out side .
It may be full up. If so then you are going to need some drain rods and going fishing.
Impossible to say from here which way your drains go, how deep etc.
Good luck.


C.G.

uncle_buck_3

It’s not just the wind ..is it? (Pardon the pun !)

You may notice that when it’s windy that the water level in you’re toilet pan will drop a bit…this is caused by the wind causing a vacuum as it blows over the top of the vent pipe …this causes a suction action…..this sucks some of the water out of the bowl of the toilet pan….that is why when its windy the water level in your toilet pan drops.

HTH

thescouselander

As others have said it sounds like the water is being syphoned out of the toilet. I suggest the vent on your waste pipe could be blocked - maybe it has been damaged by the high winds we have had recently or something could have been blown over it and has got stuck. It might be a good idea to go outside and see if there is anyting obvious blocking the vent.