Inland Camera Inspection
Call today for your free sewer camera inspection!
Call today for your free sewer camera inspection!
Here Technician Dave operates camera for customer’s sewer camera inspection.A sewer camera is a device that produces video images of your sewer lines. This specialized device is heavily built to take the rigors of the poisonous and corrosive gas environment. (It is the gasses between the liquids and the top portion of the sewer line that can decay the sewer pipes due to these same gasses eating away at the sewer lines).
These inspection cameras are made to be knocked around while traversing your sewer lines, and relay back to the technician video images of the condition of your sewer lines.
A sewer camera inspection consists of sending a sewer line camera into your sewer line to judge the condition of your sewer lines. These inspections can locate the changes in direction your sewer line takes as well as depth readings at certain points.
The sewer inspection camera can also locate lost cleanout locations as well. The sewer camera has the ability, through a competent operator, to determine the type of pipe your sewer lines are made out of. Whether Orangeburg, clay, or PVC etc. The technician will be able to tell you not only what type of pipe you have, but also the condition of your sewer lines.
Orangeburg pipe was commonly made available from the early 1940’s to the early 1970’s. It was comprised of layers of cellulose, asbestos, then saturated with coal tar mixes. This ‘tar paper’ of sorts, was rolled into cylindrical shape to form a pipe.
Overtime, this impregnated tar paper makeup starts to deteriorate from not only sewer gases, but the weight of the earth above the sewer pipe constantly bearing down on it and eventually crushing it. (Modern sewer plastics used in sewer pipe can show elongation due to the weight of the earth. Earth weights can exert incredible force against sewer lines and other utilities as well. Also, delamination is a common occurrence with Orangeburg pipe.
There is a good chance that if your home was built between the early 1940’s and early 70’s, you may have Orangeburg pipe. Below you can see the breakdown of Orangeburg pipe that was commonly used for sewer drainage pipe.
This is what tree root intrusion looks like when Orangeburg pipe is uncovered in your yard. You can clearly see the effects that not only tree roots play in the degradation of sewer lines, but Orangeburg’s defective material makeup as well. Image: Inland Camera Inspection/Inland Trenchless Inc.
Collapsed Orangeburg pipe section pulled from anNormally, a dedicated camera for waterlines can be used but never be used for sewer inspections. Contamination would certainly ensue by doing so. Larger drained waterlines can be camera inspected under certain circumstances, but normally, not residential service lines. (The camera lens suffers when surrounded with water).
Total sewer pipe failureYes and no. There are certain areas of your septic system that can be inspected with a sewer camera but there are limitations. These limitations are due to design obstructions. Such septic line obstructions include the septic tank itself, any junction boxes and any sharp turn tee’s in the system can impede the camera. Basically, any obstruction that stops the camera head from being snaked down the line are the limits of using a camera for septic inspections.
When used for septic system troubleshooting and diagnosis, the sewer inspection camera can be used in the sewer line from the house to the first cleanout, usually located just on the outside of the home, and then snaked to the septic tank.
If the lids are removed from the septic tank, the line from the tank to the junction box may be snaked, but this all depends on further obstructions in the system, ie; design constraints, cleanouts, clogs, root intrusions, collapses etc.
Yes, there are limitations when using a sewer camera to locate clogs and other pipe damage. When the sewer camera comes into contact with a clog, many times the camera cannot proceed further down the sewer line because the clog is really bound up tight in the sewer line. Sometimes the camera operator can simply push the clog down the line and out into the sewer main, but this not always the reality.
These sewer inspection cameras are costly and are also costly to repair. When the sewer camera comes into contact with a clog with heavy buildup, then the only real answer is to have the sewer line cleaned by a drain cleaning company. These clogs can also be due to tree roots growing in the sewer line due to the sewer pipe having been damaged.
This damage could be caused by any number of issues, but the more common issues are tree root buildup, collapsed lines; due to the weight of the earth above the line, flushing objects down a toilet or drain that should not be tossed down the drain. (Baby wipes are a HUGE problem with clogging sewer lines). Often the sewer line has reached its age limit for functionality and simply has to be replaced.
The sewer camera technician can sometimes gain access through existing cleanouts, roof plumbing vents or even in some instances by pulling the toilet and send the inspection camera down the pipe your toilet was hooked up to.
Yes! Many times more advanced sewer inspection cameras can not only tell you what the issue is with your sewer lines, but tell you the depth and exact location of the problem. (This is important because if your problem is in a yard or under a slab it’s better to know exact locations so you aren’t destroying your entire yard or ripping up entire concrete slabs for repair).
