TORREYA 



March, igii 

 Vol. II No. 3 



THE CLOGGING OF DRAIN TILE BY ROOTS 



By G. E. Stone 



Quite frequently trouble is experienced from roots of various 

 trees entering drain tile, sewers, etc., and this often causes much 

 vexation, labor and expense. The Carolina poplar, which is 

 often planted as a shade tree in cities, frequently becomes a 

 nuisance in consequence of its peculiar habit of working its roots 

 through the joints of tile used for sewerage, etc. It is a com- 

 paratively easy matter for roots to gain entrance into the un- 

 cemented joints of tile, and even when tile is cemented they often 

 manage to crowd in and fill the tile with a mass of roots which 

 eventually clog the tile and render it useless. Instances are 

 even known of roots penetrating sewers constructed of brick 

 and cement. The roots of other trees besides Carolina poplars 

 are known to be offenders in this respect. Willows, elms and 

 others are responsible for considerable clogging of tile, and grass 

 roots will in a comparatively short time put out of commission 

 the most effective drain. There are also many instances of even 

 fungi and algae clogging up small drains. The writer some years 

 ago had called to his attention a case of Oscillatoria constantly 

 clogging tile, much to the annoyance of the landowner; and, is 

 also familiar with a case where the drain tile underlying the steam 

 conduit of a central heating and distributing plant was con- 

 tinually being clogged by root growth. The joints of the six- 

 inch Akron tile underlying the steam heating pipes were not 

 cemented and were four or five feet below the surface. In two 

 or three years after the tile were laid some of them had become 

 clogged with elm tree roots. This clogging prevented the water 

 from flowing through the tile and caused a dam, as it were, 

 resulting in the water flowing back into the conduit and flooding 



[No 2, Vol. II, of ToRREYA, Comprising pp. 23-50, was issued 14 F 1911.] 



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