Plumbers offer all kinds of services these days, from installing new central heating systems to dealing with leaky taps. Among the many jobs that they might get called out to do is to clear a clogged up sewer. There are a number of techniques available to plumbers to clear debris out of an underground sewer line. Among them is rodding which consists of connecting a number of rods together and shoving them into the sewer by hand until the problem area has been located. Increasingly common across the Western world is hydro jetting, however. What is it and how does it work?

Understanding the Principles of Hydro Jetting

Rather than using a physical connection between the plumber and the blockage in the sewer via a set of rods, hydro jetting means being able to take a step back from what is a potentially very messy job. Instead, a plumber will insert a hydro jet into the sewer from a suitable access point away from the blockage. He or she will then turn on a pump which can generate up to about 4000 psi of force in the hydro jet. Squirting water out at this rate, the hydro jet will force its way along the sewer until it comes into contact with the blockage. One of the reasons that hydro jets are so popular is that no nasty chemicals need to be poured into the sewer to break thing up – it all works from water alone.

Clearing Waste From Sewers

Because a hydro jet is attached to a hose which supplies it with water, it can be easily withdrawn from the sewer once it can no longer proceed. In many cases, a plumber will fit a video camera onto the hydro jet so that whatever is causing the blockage can be inspected. If the sewer has collapsed, for example, then it will be possible to measure exactly how far away from your home that a trench needs to be dug to repair it. However, this is not really the point of a hydro jet because they can clear a variety of common blockages on their own.

One of the most frequently discovered forms of sewer blockage is down to nothing more than grease. When liquid fat is poured down the sink, it solidifies and tends to end up lining a sewer until it becomes clogged. Given enough power, a hydro jet can force its way into layers of fat and generate a hole behind it through which water can subsequently flow. Hydro jets are also good at clearing paths through blockages that have been formed by things like excessive toilet paper, cotton wool or sanitary products.