What is the difference between a 2-way clean out device and a back flow device?

When the city works on the sewer lines pressure builds up in the lines which causes water to flow out from the toilet bowls in my house resulting in a smelly mess. I told the plumbing company about the problem and how that can be solved. They put in a 2-way clean out device on the sewer line leading to my property. Surprise! When the city did its quarterly sewer thing water flowed out of the toilet bowls. I called the plumber to complain. The worker they sent told me that the 2-way clean out device was NOT going to do anything and that the back flow device would.

Honestly,I think the plumbing company did a con job on me and I am not happy to the tune of $900.00! What is the solution to this smelly and very expensive mess?

hi,
A two way cleanout allows for drain cleaning in either direction, out to the street or back under the house with the cable or snake.
A backflow preventer prevents city pressure water from returning back to the city main in case of contamination from something in your home.
I personally have never had the complaint you are having, but for a toilet to overflow, the drain line must be backed up or something caught in the trap of the toilet and would need an auger, or a 6 ft cable through the toilet itself. I could use some help on this one myself. If the neither the toilet is clogged nor the sewer line is backed up I would have to be there to see exactly what is happening. A two way cleanout is only for cleaning out the sewer line when there is a blockage, and a backflow preventer prevents pressure water from retuning to the city, it does not prevent ovepressure coming into the residence.
I think the company that installed the cleanout and who wants to install the backflow are just making some extra bucks with you. Sorry I dont have the full answer at the moment, but please have the city send a supervisor out and explain what is happening and if anything else needs to be done call another company, check yelp for reviews, they are pretty accurate. My company currently has 24 5 star reviews.
good luck
joe carazola
Brookway Plumbing and drain

Joe Rocket south Fl Plumber

what you need is a back water check valve. The previous work performed when they put in back to back clean outs did nothing more than allowing better access to the sewer lateral for maintenance.
Search our sponsors site for "backwater valve" to see what it is and how they work. Hope this helps.



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a backflow device will only prevent the sewer water from coming back into your house.
i'm thinking the company that installed the cleanout was making an educated guess as to why the toilets were syphoning out their water.
do a search of this site and you will find numerous posts from homeowners who have had water sucked out of their toilets because of partial blockages in their sewer main.
i'm not saying the plumbers were 100% right but they were not 100% wrong either.
my firsy imclination would be to go on the roof and run water or a snake down the main vent stack to make sure you have a free flow of air in your piping.
someone can go to your new cleanout and inject smoke into the piping to see if it come out your vent stack.
remember, solving these types problems is not black and white. sometimes it is hit or miss type guesswork.
[www.google.com]

He said the toilets are overflowing, NOT "siphoning", because the city lines are overloaded. A back water valve is the least expensive way to minimize it happening, although they are not 100% perfect, because they can also fail OR cause a stoppage in the building. A "two way cleanout" would do absolutely NOTHING to prevent a back up in the toilets from the city mains, and whoever installed it should have known that if they were even slightly competent.

Towns and Cities have different standards of working PSI as the mains are cleared and cleaned. In smaller communities this task might be contracted with companies that specialize in municipal waste cleaning. I was told that these contractors kept the working pressures to under 1500 psi, for the very reason you are having backflow issues. Our sewer lines are 18-20 ft below grade. I can only imagine that your community is using very high pressures to "clear n clean" your lines.

As suggested by those who have posted, I agree. A "back-water" check valve, placed within 10ft of your foundation would normal prevent those issues you have described. A back-water check valve, can be removed annually for cleaning and be re-install, quite easily.

You might wish to contact the original plumbing company and ask why a dual clean was installed, rather than back-water valve. That, we can not begin to answer because it would require an on-site inspection and evaluation.

Do you neighbors have the same issue that you do?
Best Wishes

My next door neighbor had the same problem and he installed something called a carmel trap which I heard is now out of date. But a neighbor down the street said he has had no problems and that makes me wonder why.