CLEAN THE TRAP TO PREVENT CORONAVIRUS. U-TRAP, P-TRAP AND BOTTLE TRAP CLEANING INSTRUCTION

What is a trap? Each apartment has multiple dewatering levels. They are usually the dungs connected to the building. If there is no trap between the two, the odor and bacteria of dung channels can be transmitted to your home through the drain. Trap maintenance is also very important. In Hong Kong, there was a residential building that caused the virus to spread   to the entire building due to the trap device drying up! In this article, we will introduce different types of traps and the areas you need to pay attention.

The trap using principle

The trap is a bend in the drainpipe. Placing it in a 50-70mm deep storage tank can separate the dung from the indoor air, and also prevent insects and rats in the water pipe from sneaking into the house.

Types of traps: U-Trap, P-Trap and Bottle Trap

U-Trap, P-Trap and Bottle Trap are the common types of traps. What you see at home, such as toilets, kitchen sinks, and washing machines are usually bottle traps because they take up less space and have more complex structures. If the drainage is not smooth, it will easily accumulate oil and garbage, causing blockage and odor.

U-Trap and P-Trap take up more space. Therefore, they are usually installed on the floor, underground or exterior wall, the water level of the toilet and bathroom floor. U-Trap and P-Trap are often equipped with anti-suction devices, which are used to prevent the vacuum of the high-level sewage when it is flushed down and suck the water in the trap.

The FAQ of trap 

Traps can become dry, leaky, and clogged. When trap fails, the odor of the feces may flow back, causing the virus to pass through the water pipe into the room. Therefore, it is very important to check whether there is water storage in the trap regularly. You can check in a simple way. Put a stick from the drain to the trap, if the stick is not wet, there is a chance that the trap is dry.

Generally, drain outlets that are commonly used, such as toilets, bathroom floor drains and washbasin do not require pouring water inside every week as water often flows through. However, in places where drain outlets that are not commonly used or the traps are relatively shallow, the Buildings Department recommends pouring about half a liter of clear water into each platform outlet each week to maintain a certain amount of water in the trap.

During the outbreak of Coronavirus, you can inject 1:99 bleach water into the drain outlets every week to enhance the disinfection effect. In addition, Ben, a plumbing expert consultant, pointed out that if there is an unused drain outlet at home, you can consider temporarily sealing the drain outlet with adhesive tape to prevent the virus from entering the house through the air through the hose.

The cleaning method of traps

Bottle traps are prone to blockage problems, resulting in slow water drain and odor. You can clean the trap by yourself. Just unscrew the bottom box of the trap, clear the trash deposited inside, and then put it back to reuse it. For demonstration, please refer to the maintenance video from Ben.

If you want to know more information about it, you can take the DIY plumbing class from Decoman to learn more about residential plumbing repair and replacement. You can have a look from the website to check out more classes.

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This article was originally published on HKDecoman.

HKDecoman, now going global as Deco-Man, is a Hong Kong-based renovation platform which provides professional consultancy services and pioneers in the development of A.I. homeowner-engineer matching. We aim at educating the public about the art of home renovation, and have our eyes on transforming the traditional renovation industry, bringing standardisation, transparency, convenience and automation to the business.