Do-It-Yourself

By: K. Anthony Bissoon

Welcome to another instalment of Do it Yourself, where we aim to give you the know-how for quick, simple and money saving fixes about your home! In this edition, especially for persons that spend a lot of time in the kitchen [also applicable to all bathrooms, wash closets etc.], we will be looking at traps-how they work and how to fix and clean them.
Traps as they are called can be made out of plastic or metal [although the plastic kind is present in almost all domestic plumbing systems], and their function is to: you guessed ‘trap’ any debris like small objects, hair, or even that wedding ring from entering into the plumbing and clogging it up, it also works to keep bad smells from escaping, for example a sewer trap and even keeps germs out too.
Now traps are found in virtually all bathroom and kitchen sinks, showers and toilets plumbing, you can find them sometimes outside or inside, maybe hiding in a corner someplace…You can also find them in several different shapes, like an S-trap, P-trap or a shallow trap. These traps are connected to the lines with compression fittings [screwed on], the joints are made watertight by rubber washers.
So what follows are a few easy steps to cleaning a trap, here we go:
Tools and materials
•    Bucket
•    Old brush [an old toothbrush works fine too]
•    Replacement rubber washers [if needed]
1 Isolate the water supply before you start loosening piping connections, turn off the isolating valve for the water circuit first, or if you can’t find the isolating valve, then turn off the main. Then put the bucket just under the trap to get any water that will come down when you start loosening the connection.
2 Undo the trap by screwing out the compression fitting, remember to turn the right direction, clockwise means tighten and anti-clockwise means loosen.
3 Remove any foreign material from the trap using the brush and rinse in a bucket of clean water.
4 If the trap area has been leaking, then this may indicate that the washers are worn out and needs to be replaced. You should check them out now, clean them and examine them, if they look good, use them back, otherwise replace them. Take good care to put the washers in properly.
5Assemble the trap, making sure that you tighten them securely, after this you can turn back on the supply and make sure water is flowing freely and that there are no leaks. If so then congrats!
It’s a good idea to check and clean these traps regularly; you can prevent clogs and jams and keep your plumbing in good shape. Happy fixing!