Blogs from July, 2021

Sewer lines play an important role in your home: removing all of the grime, debris, and wastewater that your drains collect. Naturally, this means sewer lines become dirty over time. After all, anything that has to deal with a combination of food waste, hair, and raw sewage can’t be expected to stay clean forever. With that in mind, the idea of cleaning your sewer line might seem slightly silly. Why would you take the time and make the effort to clean this line when it’s entire purpose is to get dirty again?

Believe it or not, sewer cleaning is an extremely valuable service that could greatly improve your home’s plumbing reliability. You’ll experience fewer major issues and have a longer lasting sewer line, all while avoiding any serious emergencies that can happen when sewer lines fail.

What Is Sewer Line Cleaning?

Sewer line cleaning is the process of scrubbing all of the collected grime and scum off of the inside of your main sewer line. Because your sewer line is generally long and too narrow to clean by hand, this process is generally done by a professional sewer cleaner with specialized tools that get the job done far more effectively. Today, the most popular method of sewer cleaning is a process known as “hydro jetting,” which uses the power of water under high pressure to remove debris from your sewer line in a way that is safe, effective, and eco-friendly.

The hydro jetting process involves feeding a pressure washer line with a specialized nozzle into your sewer. The nozzle has several high-power jets on it: a main jet on the front that blasts away blockages and large bits of debris, and several secondary jets along the side that scrub the walls of your sewer line as well as flush away dislodged grime. As your technician feeds this tool up through your sewer, water from the various nozzles in the jetting tool blasts all of the accumulated waste off of the pipeline walls, leaving them clean, clear, and freely moving. This process also scrubs away or tears apart any potential obstructions in your sewer line, improving water and waste flow through the line itself.

Hydro jetting can generally be completed in as little as a few hours and is by far the most effective way to clean out a sewer line, short of replacing your old sewer line entirely. In fact, hydro jetting is known for having no significant impact on your property whatsoever. The process involves no digging, no heavy machinery, and no long or ongoing processes. You will have full use of your sewer line again after just a few short hours, and that means no major disruption to your life, either.

Is Sewer Cleaning Necessary?

The big question for many people is a simple one: do you have to clean your sewer line or can you just leave it be? We prefer to answer this by comparing cleaning your sewer line to changing the oil in your car. Do you have to change the oil in your car every 3,000 to 5,000 miles? Maybe not, but not changing it can certainly have some disastrous consequences. Before long, components will start to wear out and backed up sludge and grime from old motor oil will cause your engine to fail or even seize up entirely. The same can happen with your sewer line: while it will continue to work properly without regular care or maintenance, eventually it will become bogged down with grime and sludge buildup. This will eventually lead to serious problems that could require everything from major sewer repairs to a sewer excavation and replacement project.

If you’re looking to keep your sewer line working smoothly, we recommend having your sewer line professionally inspected at least once a year. A sewer line inspection is done by feeding a specialized inspection camera up through the line so our skilled team members can see what’s going on and make a professional recommendation. If your sewer line has accumulated too much grime and debris, then they will recommend a professional sewer line cleaning service to help restore it to peak condition and prevent your home from suffering serious consequences.