A neighbor was told that tree roots are invading his sewer line between his house and the city hookup and that he should run "something" down the drain to retard/stop the root growth. Setting aside the quality of those assertions, he mentioned two products--chlorine bleach and copper sulfate--and asked me if I could think of other readily available substances that might do what he asks. About the only thing that came to mind was table/rock salt, but I wonder if the folks on this forum have other suggestions. I've seen suggestions of pouring Round-Up, Root-X (dichlobenil), and coffee grounds down the drain, but I (and the city) would rather avoid the pesticides, and I don't understand the coffee idea. I believe he does not have a water softener in his house, and I believe he has not had a camera inspection of the line, so the tree root cause probably is speculation at the moment.

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In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.

If it is tree roots, in my experience, anything poured into the sewer is temporary at best. The problem will just keep coming back as soon as more roots find their way into the cracks. And they will. In the long run, replacing the sewer line makes more sense. Kent

We were just talking about that a day or so ago because my co-worker had an almost sewer backup into her house. The plumber told her a cup or so of epsom salts down the drain once a week would do the trick.

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Renate

None of the 'Pour down the drain' solutions will work long term, other than to make the tree in question sick, possibly, and then we get into tree diseases, bugs, etc.

kentobrew has the right idea. The only thing that will fix this long term is to repair the pipe or plan ahead to have a roto-drain fix company come out every 6 to 9 months to clear it.

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Shepherd of the Trees
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

He needs to definitely have a camera inspection and if tree roots are invading the line the best thing to do is get rid of the tree and replace the sewer lines. (This is from my husband who is a plumber).

Thanks all. He didn't wait for our sage comments--when I went over to talk to him, he already had the yard dug up to replace the line with PVC. His next problem is how to rehab the trees that lost some/most of their feeder roots on one side, but we're on top of that one with the Dirt Doctor's help.

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In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.