[TheNerd]

I work as a maintenance worker at a factory with a few thousand workers and our urinals keep getting clogged up with this gray and a bit of white grit feels kind of like sand but it isn't the plumber that came the last time to snake out the pipes in the wall behind the urinals said it was lime and calcium build up.

I tried gallons of zep lime and calcium cleaner but that didn't do anything We have been using these urinal blocks FRS12SANANI Fresh Products from clean sweep supply for a year now and they still get clogged in the urinals and in the pipes in the walls I am looking for a safe way to do this.

[ballengerb1]

CLR works pretty good. The water must be pretty bad because urine will not create a calcium/lime build up. Your other option is to filter the water line and soften it.

[TheNerd]

Hmm well it gets bad I broke the tip of the router in the urinal because of that gray grit and I had tried CLR I used 1 gallen for each urinal there is probably 1,500 workers each shift each day using the restrooms I am looking for something to keep up with them.

[TheNerd]

It mite be urinal salts or something because if I pore CLR on it it dosen't fiz or anything

[ballengerb1]

My guess is someone is messing with you and pouring in grout or cement. Calcium and lime would not build up like that and break a rooter.

[TheNerd]

No one is doing that what ever it is it is gray and kind of white it clogges up the urinal and the lines in the wll. And yes I had broken to router tips Half way snaking threw the urinal I have to use really hot water in order to penatrate that stuff but our water heaters can't put out enough hot water.

[speedball1]

I wouldn't suggest this to a home owner but since you work in maintenance I'll pas along ( with a strong warning) Just how I went about repairing this problem. This was a night club mens room here in Sarasota.
First off this isn't the water so forget about filters. What you have is mineral build up from the urine. Yellowish white and hard as a rock. I poured two quarts of Muriatic Acid down the trap and let it boil.
WARNING!! Open all windows and place a large fan blowing out of the room. These fumes can kill you, I lost a good friend when he used sulfitic acid in a closed bathroom) I still carry a scar on my lung from boiling lime out of toilets in my fathers shop when I was a young boy. DO NOT BREATH THE FUMES!! Give it enough time to boil away and air out before entering the room. Good luck and heed my warning! Tom

[TheNerd]

Can I use to keep them clear is their a urinal block I can get to keep the urinals and drain lines in the walls clear from deposits. I tried several like Fresh Products brand, Krystal and Big D brands but they don't seem strong enough to keep up with all the hundreds of gallons of urine that get flushed each day. Any suggestions.

Thanks yeah I will try that I had used it in the past but their isn't too many places that still sell that any more will have to look for it.

[speedball1]

Try a pool place for Muriatic Acid And don't forget to ventilate the room. Good luck, Tom

[TheNerd]

So after I get the pippes and urinals cleaned out what can I use to keep them clear I tried several urinal blocks they work all right but they can't keep up with the amount of urine I guess is their any urinal blocks that are stronger then the rest

[speedball1]

I've always advised pouring a few quarts of full strength bleach and letting them set over night or as long as you can. Hope this works for you and be careful, Tom

[ballengerb1]

These urinals flush don't they? I can not fathom how a urinal can clog a drain pipe with calcium no matter how many guys use it. Maybe you need an automatic flush valve.

[speedball1]

No Bob it's not the flush valve.
I've had this before in a mens room in a night club. It's not calcium but salts and minerals that have built up for years. I don't know how it got there but it must have been a slow process over the years. Last time I dropped in it was flushing just fine. Cheers, Tom

[TheNerd]

Yeah I just got dune taking 3 urinals off the wall and snaking them from the back and snaking out the lines in the wall about 75' I seen in another thread about this free flush stuff I put a case of that on order they do flush but it is too slow they over flow and the gray grime stinks up the restrooms we have been in this building 5.5 years and alwase had this problem.

And about that muriatic acid I talked to the EHS&S lady here and she said she won't allow us to use that because their won't be adequate ventilation. Or Respirators.

[speedball1]

And about that muriatic acid I talked to the EHS&S lady here and she said she won't allow us to use that because their won't be adequate ventilation. Or Respirators.

Then you do what I did when I boiled lime deposits out of toilets. You simply pull the fixtures and take them outside to boil 56hem out. It shouldn't be a ventilation problem then. That stuff was as hard as a rock . Good luck getting a auger through until you soften the mess up with chemicals. Cheers, Tom