Monday, September 23, 2013

Double trouble for old sewer lines in the fall

HI, Fall is here, and that means trees start to lose there leafs and with rain it makes for a heavy load on storm and sewer lines. With tree roots growing all summer in and around the sewer or storm line. It makes it more likely for a blocked line when the leafs fall and rain comes down, most home owners not know that roots have grown.  
 In the summer its not going to be a problem that the roots have grown in the sewer line, there's not that much water going down the line, But with the rain and the leafs it can be the straw that breaks the sewer line. 
With older homes that have there rain drains tied into the sewer line, it makes for double trouble on old sewer lines that are more then forty years old.
 The type of pipe back then can play a big part in it, with most of the pipe being just three feet in length or so, it make for lots of joints and the joints in the pipe is where the roots get in and where water can leak out. Leaky joints are the number one cause of sewer line breaks, by letting roots in and water out of the sewer line. That's why it's a good idea to have a sewer inspection done in the fall before you have trouble, but most people won't and that's common, But with sewer scopes / video cameras getting more popular with plumbing and the cost of the equipment is lowing, it will be a more common in the future. Just like in most thinks electronics is playing a helpful part in sewer inspections with better cameras and LEDs that light up sewer lines better. In the far future there will be electronic mice like robots that the city or home owner will let go and will have the ability to survey all the pipes in the house with sonic and visual inspections to see and hear for breaks and leaks, but for know seeing is what we have. 
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