Flooding In The Kitchen! What To Do?

[Rich One]

Happens all the time when the volume of rainwater going thru the main drainage discharge pipe into the sewage system, exceeds its capacity, creates a pulsating plunger effect and the water backs up on the line and into the units.... !! Only solution is to Plug the lines..!!
Your drainage is trying to discharge into a street main that is overflooded...!!

 

[Vermonter]

I spoke to the landlord (tried to at least... my Spanish isn't quite what it should be ; ) and she said that someone will be coming on Wednesday to fix the drains in the garden and if I need someone to fix my kitchen drain I can get it done that day too. 2 Problems though. 1. They take holidays seriously here. And 2. I have to work on Wednesday. Hopefully they have flexible hours because I won't be around for much of the day.

 

[Vermonter]

Everything is back to normal in the kitchen now. Except for a crummy smell so I opened a window to let it air out a bit. The drain seems to be functioning now so I think the plunger effect might have been one of the causes. Apparently the elevator was flooded too. I took some mop rags and emptied all the drain water into the toilet which seems to have been a good solution for all the excess water. I just hope they get the drains fixed on ground level so this backlog doesn't occur again.
Thanks for all the input folks.

 

[Davidglen77]

This is standard for Buenos Aires, drains here many times work IN REVERSE, water comes out of them instead of goes down. What you should do to maintain your drains here is once per week spill a big pot of boiling water down each one, and about 1 cup of bleach. I wouldn't use chemicals as old drain pipes here are made of LEAD yes LEAD and if you use a chemical they will rot away quicly and just think of what they are going to have to do in your apartment to get to those pipes in the event they have to replace them. Prepare yourself for water problems of all kinds, That is part of life here.

 

[Vermonter]

Alright, I'll skip the drano then. Looks like I'll just have to be on high alert with a mop, bucket, and rags the next time it decides to inundate. I didn't know about boiling water and bleach so I might end up doing that if I don't end up plugging the drain.

 

[Rich One]

Now I understand why I'm going crazy, is LEAD poisoning ?? Look what happened to the Romans?

 

[dennisr]

Except for a crummy smell so I opened a window to let it air out a bit.

Ha, ha. Welcome to Argentina.
Most floor drains in Argentine buildings do not have a trap installed: "S" shaped pipe. The S shaped pipe is designed to retain some water which serves as a block to sewage gases: prevent venting through a floor drain. Without the trap installed, sewage/drain system is vented through the floor drain.