Drain clogs are a part of life. It’s not a matter of if one will happen, but a matter of when, regardless of how much care you take of your drains or how much you focus on preventing them. And for as long as we’ve been dealing with the pests that are drain clogs, we’ve also been dealing with trying to remove them. For years, removal meant either a difficult or potentially harmful solution, or even tearing out the clogged pipe entirely and replacing it with a new one. However, today that doesn’t have to be the case thanks to the advent of the jetting process.
What Is Jetting?
Jetting is the process of using a high-pressure blast of water to remove clogs and buildup on the interior walls of your drain lines. You know how you might use a pressure washer to sweep dirt and debris off a patio or home exterior that hasn’t been cleaned in years? The same principle is what makes jetting an ideal solution to clogs—it’s natural, uses no harmful chemicals, and yet tears through just about anything in its path.
What makes jetting an ideal solution? First and foremost, it’s entirely eco-friendly. No harmful chemicals escape into the sewer system or out into the environment, as all it uses is water to eliminate clogs. Second, it doesn’t do any damage to your plumbing—because there are no corrosive substances involved, your pipes remain perfectly intact while the clog is completely eliminated. And third, it actually contains the clog itself and prevents debris from flowing further down your drain where it can form a new clog or contribute to another building one.
What to Expect in a Jetting Service
A jetting service is generally pretty quick, but it’s good to know what to expect when you have one done. Your plumber will need two things from you: a connection to your water and a standard power plug. Your water is connected to a machine on your technician’s truck which places it under extremely high pressure. The water is then fed up a separate hose to a specialized tool. This tool is then fed into your drain, either through an access panel or by separating two pipes to gain access.
Your technician then uses the tool to seal off your drain line, preventing any water and waste from spilling out. They then press a pedal to start the water flow which blasts away at the clog in the line. Eventually the sealing tube fills with water and debris from your drain, which is emptied into a bucket nearby. After repeating this step several times, the water from drains will come out clean, meaning the clog is gone and your drain line is clean. At this point the tool can be removed, the clog and wastewater can be disposed of in the public sewer system, and the process is complete.
However, your plumber may want to also run an addition check to make sure your drain is completely clear, and this is done with a camera inspection. In a camera inspection, your plumber feeds a specialized camera into your drain line which sends images of the inside of your line back to a small monitor. If the camera spots any additional clogs or areas that the jetting service may have failed to clean, they’ll go back in and eliminate it to ensure the job is done fully.
The entire process takes around two hours to complete for average jobs, but could increase depending on the condition of your drains and the nature of the clog. Jetting can be used to clear away nearly any type of clog, including both solid and liquid waste which may have become trapped in your drain.
Schedule a jetting service with the local experts at Carter Quality Plumbing! Give us a call at (803) 998-2270 today.