Sewer problems can be frustrating. Fixing them can be destructive and expensive, especially if they involve excavating your yard. Thanks to sewer camera inspections, you don’t necessarily have to pay tons of money to ruin your landscaping.
Digging (trenching) is no longer the only sewer repair option. Today, plumbers use cameras and other modern plumbing technology to inspect sewer lines and determine the causes of sewer problems, such as clogs or leaks. Let’s take a look at how a sewer camera inspection work.
How Sewer Camera Inspection Works
A certified plumber inserts a specialized camera into your sewer line cleanout through to the sewer line. The small fiber optic camera is at the end of a long, flexible metal cable. The plumbing professional pushes the cable down the sewer pipe and manipulates it remotely as it navigates the sewer pipe using tiny motors.
If the plumber cannot insert the camera through the sewer opening, they may make a temporary hole to spool in the camera. A portable, closed-circuit display outputs the feed from the camera, which features powerful LEDs illuminating the sewer line interior.
This inspection method provides a detailed, real-time view of your sewer line interior. The plumbing professional can see sewer line issues as the camera moves down the sewer line. The following are a few examples of common sewer line problems and how the plumber might fix them.
- Cracks. They use a Cured-In-Place-Pipe (CIPP) to seal cracks and leaks.
- Breaks. They use pipe bursting technology, which is less invasive and convenient than trenching.
- Clogs. They use hydro-jetting cleaners to remove the debris.
Whatever the issue, a sewer camera inspection can effectively identify it, and the plumbing professional can determine the best solution.
Benefits of Sewer Camera Inspection
Sewer camera inspection eliminates the need for trenching, which can be destructive, expensive and slow. Moreover, the trenching method involves some degree of trial-and-error. Before the plumbing contractor starts digging, they have to make informed guesses about the cause and location of the sewer line issues.
In contrast, a sewer inspection camera pinpoints the problem and lets the plumbing professional fix it without minimal disruption. Furthermore, a sewer camera inspection can identify all the problems in your sewer line, whereas trenching identifies only the major problems. Sewer camera inspections are, therefore, more effective in determining the cause of repeated sewer problems.
For these reasons, many plumbers favor inspections as a way to determine the health and functionality of a sewer pipe. That is not to say that camera inspections and other trenchless solutions are always the best. In some cases, conventional approaches may be more suitable due to the nature of the problem or the placement of the pipes.
But even in these cases, a sewer camera inspection will be the plumbing professional’s first port of call because it’s inexpensive and minimally disruptive. Plus, curious Texas homeowners find it interesting because it’s not every day that you get to see what’s going on inside your sewer pipes.
Schedule Your Sewer Camera Inspection in Rockwall, TX, Today
Camera inspections are highly effective in identifying the precise cause and location of sewer problems. Contact Intown Plumbing to schedule an inspection.
