Drain cleaning may not be a glamorous job, but thousands of homeowners are indebted every day to the services that these professionals provide. From a simple blocked sink to a major sewer collapse, drainage professionals are an important part of Britain’s infrastructure.
In this feature we’ll try to explain a few of the jobs a drain cleaner may have to do on a daily basis.
Drain Jetting
Perhaps the most common job a drainage expert will do throughout the course of his day will be drain jetting. Drain jetting is a powerful tool in the drainage expert’s arsenal. Many blockages which stop the flow of waste through a drain can be removed quite quickly using drain jetting equipment.
In the drain jetting process a powerful jet of water is forced through the drainage pipe. The jetting nozzle can deliver water at up to 4,000 pounds per square inch, which is usually enough to break up any debris and flush it through the drainage pipe.
CCTV Surveys
If a drain maintenance company cannot move the blockage by jetting alone they may need to conduct a CCTV survey of the drainage pipe to try to discover the root cause of the problem. In the CCTV inspection process a small camera is inserted into the drainage pipe and video images are relayed to the surface.
The drainage engineer can thus see the internal workings of the drain and visually determine the cause of the blockage. Using CCTV survey equipment the drainage expert can also map the pipe’s route underground and can use software to produce a representation of the drainage network. This can be extremely useful if excavation is further required.
Drainage Root Removal
In their quest for water roots commonly find their way into the drainage system. If you have a blockage in a drainage pipe which cannot be removed by jetting alone root intrusion may be the problem. Drainage pipes don’t last forever and over time the pipe may crack. When this happens roots can find their way into the drain and due to the easy source of water can soon multiply.
Roots inside a drainage pipe will eventually block the passage of waste completely and will have to be removed. To remove roots from a drainage pipe the drainage experts will use spinning root cutting equipment which they can insert inside the drainage pipe. The spinning root cutter is usually the same diameter as the pipe and cuts the roots back to the pipe walls, a liner is then inserted into the pipe so that the roots cannot grow back.
Drainage Pipe Liner Inserts
If a drainage pipe is found to be cracked or damaged, it can sometimes be repaired by lining the pipe with a resin insert. This is an excellent way to repair a pipe without the need for messy excavation and can work well in locations where excavation is simply not possible. In this process a resin impregnated liner is blown through the pipe until it reaches the point of damage.
It is then inflated to the internal diameter of the pipe where it is left to set in situ. When the liner has set the inflation equipment can be removed from the pipe and the pipe will once again be able to carry waste water. Although the pipe will have a slightly smaller diameter than normal, what will be lost in carrying capacity will be more than made up for by the new lease of life the pipe will see.
Drainage processionals in London carry out jobs like these every day and can provide a quote for any type of job, big or small.
Chloe Cotton is editor-in-chief at The Happiest Homes, a leading UK digital home magazine.
