A new customer in Ringwood this week was saved by the pipe locator!
The case of the missing inspection opening was solved this week thanks to modern technology. Our new customer had experienced several raw sewerage blockages over the years. The time between each blockage was becoming shorter and shorter. It was approximately nine months since they had experienced their last plumbing disaster where raw sewerage was running down the side of their home! The owner was quite distressed with the situation at hand and this time contacted Tom Plumb to tend to their concerns.
The drains had been previously cleared by the old mechanical snake type drain cleaner where a small cutter had been used to clear the drain. The new customer was referred to us by another happy customer in the area. We cleared the property service sewer drain with the high pressure water jet and flushed the drain clear. It was quite evident to us that there was tree root invasion much to our surprise. It was not an old home with the older style earthenware drains, the drains were PVC (plastic drains). The drain was cleared from the rear of the property to the front of the property. We obtained a property service sewer plan where an inspection point could be located at the front of the property. Dimensions of the inspection point were given and after manual excavation of the area, no inspection point was to be found.
This is where modern technology comes to the forefront! The drain camera was inserted and the drain surveyed downstream to the problem area of tree root invasion and the inspection point could be seen. The Pipe Locator was then able to locate the camera at this point and we were able to establish position and depth of the “missing inspection opening”. We were able to gain access and carry out repairs to the broken drain at this point. The inspection opening was raised to ground level and a lot of time and effort saved as the inspection point was two meters away from where it was indicated on the sewer plan!
In the end it was a good result for a worried customer who was relieved and amazed with the technology of our Drain Camera and the “Pipe Locator” that saved the day!