Jetting residential sewer pipes has grown to become a very popular drain cleaning sales tactic in the Pittsburgh Pa area. Avoid getting yourself soaked with a costly drain cleaning bill or even worse. Read my post about how sewer jetting can damage residential drain pipes. You’ll be quite amazed!
What is sewer jetting?
It’s a method of sewer cleaning utilizing high pressured water. A flexible high pressured hose coupled with a cutter nozzle sprays the water through the drain pipe scouring out the inner walls of the sewer pipe. The high pressured spraying flushes any stoppages into the main sewer line.
Sewer jetting originally was used for unclogging municipal (or main sewers) and larger building sewers. For example, sewer lines connecting any of the following:
- shopping malls
- strip malls
- apartment buildings
Operating pressures vary for different styles of equipment the following are pressures that are produced from sewer jetting machines:
- 1000 psi
- 2000 psi
- 3000 psi
- 4000 psi
- 5000 psi
The burst rate for schedule 40 cast iron and plastic pipes all vary from diameter to diameter. Applying high-pressure water into an old sewer whether it’s cast iron or plastic is dangerous.
Disadvantages!
Sewer jetting older residential drains that have become brittle can create significant problems instantly or shortly after the jetting process. For example, cast iron and plastic sewer pipes can burst, crack, and have holes blown through them. After a while, sewage will leak out and cause the ground to settle below the sewer line causing complete failure.
Old terracotta sewers can wash apart and collapse from the high-pressure water blowing through their loose joints. Older terracotta sewers do not have any mechanical joint seals. They were originally installed by just being pushed together and backfilled with dirt.
Why an electric snake?
An electric snake will pull out any of the following pipe stoppages:
- roots
- foreign objects
- paper towels
- toys
Sewer jetting clay sewer lines that have accumulated tree roots could create problems down the line! For example, if the roots end up in a belly or narrow section of pipe inside the public sewer they will create a clog or partial clog.
If the municipality discovers sewer jetting residue in their main sewer from a video inspection, they possibly can charge the homeowner for cleaning out their sewer.
Do you need sewer cleaning?
If you’re having ongoing sewer and drain backups, click here to schedule a sewer cleaning call with Vince. You won’t have to worry about him damaging any of your pipes.
