Sewer Rodding Vs. Hydro Jetting: The Best Way To Unblock Drainage Pipes

How do you know you have a blocked drain? Often the first sign is that the water in the sink, basin, bath or shower starts to take longer to drain. Sometimes the water can even back up, and this can affect the toilet too. Our first reaction is to reach for some chemical drain cleaner and pour some down the drain, hoping that will shift it; after all, that’s the easiest, fastest, least messy option. If that doesn’t work, we may use a rubber plunger or a plumber’s snake.

The problem is that these methods have limited effectiveness and can create more problems than they solve. Chemical solutions are very aggressive and over time can corrode drainpipes from the inside out. A plumber’s snake – a flexible auger that fits into the chuck of an electric drill and rotates to remove blockages – can cause mechanical damage to the inside of pipes and is limited by how deeply it can penetrate the pipe.

What’s Causing The Blockage?

To decide the best way to unblock a drain, we need to first understand what is causing the blockage.

• Blockage from toilet outflow is most commonly caused by articles being flushed away that are unsuitable for toilets. Wet wipes and sanitary items are the chief offenders, although the list of articles found in drain blockages defies the imagination.

Toilet-based blockages have also been exacerbated in recent years by the introduction of water-saving flush systems, as these can easily result in a too-high concentration of solid versus liquid waste in our drains.

• Showers, baths and bathroom basins often block due to a build-up of hair, which can act like a filter to catch dead skin particles and soap residues.

• Kitchen sinks and dishwashers are notorious for adding food scraps and congealing fats to the mix, while clothes washing machines contribute an unhealthy quota of detergents, fabric softener and clothing fibres.

• Blockages can also be caused outside the house, and trees are one of the biggest offenders. Stout-rooted species can displace pipes, while fibrous-rooted trees such as silver birch can penetrate the pipe in search of water and spread out a thick carpet of hair-like roots in the drain. Pipes can also be dislodged by heavy vehicles driving across them or by soil erosion causing them to sink.

If a blockage doesn’t respond to first-response treatment, a CCTV inspection will quickly determine the underlying cause and even the best way to remove the obstruction.

Before the introduction of sewer rodding and hydro jetting, a severe blockage would often require a section of the drain to be removed and manually unblocked. Now most blockages can be cleared quickly and easily.

What is Sewer Rodding?

This unblocking method uses a flexible metal cable with a set of motor-powered teeth at its head. As the head reaches the blockage the motor powers the teeth and they chew their way powerfully through the obstruction, reducing it to particles that are small enough to wash away with the usual flow of water through the drains.

While slender enough to feed through narrow-diameter pipes such as the outlet from a bathroom sink, sewer rodding teeth also have the power needed to chomp through tree roots and larger debris.

WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS OF SEWER RODDING?

The only drawback with sewer rodding is that it is a very messy process, so if you are employing a plumber to do this work for you, make sure that a proper clean-up, once the job is done, has been included in the service!

What is hydro jetting?

As the name suggests, hydro jetting uses a high-pressure stream of water to dislodge the obstruction in the drain. At 5,000 psi (344 bar) pressure, the water jet is powerful enough to remove tree roots, grease and sludge. It also has an added advantage in that it pressure-washes the insides of the pipe, so it’s an excellent preventative measure against future blockages.

WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS OF HYDRO JETTING?

Before you decide that hydro jetting is the perfect cure you need to consider the drawbacks.

While modern, newer drain pipes are able to cope with the high water pressure, older drains may suffer damage. If your property is older, you may want to ask your drain cleaning professionals to run a CCTV inspection before hydro jetting, to make sure they will withstand the pressure.

Another problem is that hydro jetting isn’t always as good as sewer rodding when it comes to hard debris and tree roots, as it may only dislodge them and move the problem further along the drain.

A third drawback is that hydro jetting often uses large equipment, which can be a problem if access to and space around the drain entry point is limited.

Which is best for your blockage: sewer rodding or hydro jetting?

To recap on the pros and cons of the two methods, you probably want to choose sewer rodding:

• If your drains are likely to be old or fragile (the age of the property may be a good indicator)
• If you know the blockage is caused by a hard obstruction, tree roots or sunken pipes
• If access to the sewer entry point is limited

On the other hand, hydro jetting is probably the best option:

• If blockages happen repeatedly in the same section of pipe
• If blockages are caused by fats, grease and sludge rather than hard objects
• If you want to maximise drain efficiency by keeping the pipes as clear as possible
• If the mess created by sewer rodding could be an issue (particularly if the access point is inside a building)
• If you need the blockage to be cleared quickly

This information is brought to you by Drainfast, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist drainage supplies and related products. If you’re reading this article, then right at this moment you’re probably needing to fix an existing drain rather than install a new one, but if your blockage problems require a new or upgraded drainage system installing, our experts are here to help you. Call us on 01730 774000 or email [email protected] for prompt, friendly advice and support.