Category Archives: common commercial plumbing issues

A Professional Perspective on the Safety of Hydro Jetting for Old Pipes

Perspective on the Safety of Hydro Jetting for Old Pipes

Hydro-jetting is currently one of the most-effective methods for clearing clogs from drainpipes. This process uses a high-pressure water blast to dislodge and wash away clogs inside a drainpipe. But is this method safe for cleaning old pipes?

In this post, we will explain how hydro-jetting works, what you should consider before you hydro-jet your old sewer lines and the alternatives to hydro-jetting.

How hydro-jetting works

Hydro-jetting is a non-invasive method for unblocking and cleaning pipes. The plumber does not have to dig a trench to access the pipe that is being cleaned. Instead of digging a hole in the ground, a powerful jet of water is shot into the pipe to remove all blockages inside it.

The hydro-jetting machine, also known as a ‘jetter,’ is made up of the following components:

  • A tank which holds the water to be used during the operation
  • A flexible steel hose that is mounted on a drum or comes in sections which can be joined to make them as long as desired
  • A range of stainless steel nozzles; the type of pipe and severity of the clog determines the proper nozzle to use
  • The mechanism for pressuring the water

To hydro-jet a line, the flexible steel hose is passed into the pipe with the nozzle attached to its end. The drainpipe is accessed through a cleanout or one of the drains in the home, explains the Peak Residential Management team. The drum is used to unroll and push the hose into the drainpipe while it is guided by the plumber’s hand.

a hydro jetting taking place in chicago.

While this is going on, a stream of water is shot into the drain via the hose and nozzle. The nozzle can direct the water forward, backwards, and against the pipe surface. It not only clears the clogs inside the pipes, the pipes are washed clean, as the debris inside them is carried away.

To do this, a hydro-jetting machine uses pressures of 1,500 to 5,000 psi (pounds per sq. inch). That is enough pressure to shear away any tree roots inside the pipes. For reference, when pressure-washing a brick wall, you are advised never to exceed 1,500 psi. 

That is why before hydro-jetting a drain line, it is essential to conduct a visual assessment of the line first. That is typically done via a sewer camera inspection. Through this inspection, the plumber can check the condition of the pipes and determine if they can withstand hydro-jetting.

Should you hydro-jet old pipes?

Older pipes are more likely to have cracks and weak spots in them. The pressure of the water used in hydro-jetting can compound the existing issues with such pipes. For this reason, hydro-jetting is not always safe for old pipes. If pipes are fragile, do not hydro-jet them.

Old sewer pipes can be made from a range of materials, and as these pipe materials age, they may start to change in the following ways:

  • Cast iron: Despite its durability, the big issue with cast iron is its vulnerability to rust. A rusty cast iron pipe will not only slow your drain, it will become fragile.
  • Copper: Due to oxidation, copper pipes form pinholes over time and become vulnerable to corrosion.
  • ABS: Although similar to PVC, ABS is a polymer. It will become brittle if it is constantly exposed to low temperatures.
  • PVC: With frequent exposure to low temperatures, PVC will become brittle. This process does not depend on age; it can happen to PVC pipes of any age.
  • Clay:  Clay pipes are particularly susceptible to root invasion. Tree roots can undermine the stability of the pipe.

Hydro-jetting old pipes will damage them if they are showing any of these signs. Before hydro-jetting a sewer line with old pipes, you should get a professional plumber to do a sewer camera inspection to determine if hydro-jetting is the best drain-cleaning option for you.

older pipes.

Alternatives to hydro-jetting

The best alternative to hydro-jetting is sewer rodding. That is a way to manually push or pull clogs out of the drain. Although no drain-cleaning method is 100%-safe, sewer rodding offers more control than hydro-jetting. A rodding machine can be maneuvered such that it doesn’t touch the pipe walls.

Sewer rodding is similar to hydro-jetting in some ways. When rodding a pipe, a long flexible tube (known as a ‘plumber’s snake’ or ‘drain snake’) is inserted into the drain. This tube contains a cable, the end of which is attached to a corkscrew auger that resembles a coiled spring or drill bit.

The tube is then hand-cranked to spin the corkscrew. A combination of twisting, pulling and pushing movements are used to snag any clog inside the drain and pull it out. Although it takes more time than hydro-jetting, a sewer rodding service is decidedly the better option when working with fragile pipes.

In Conclusion

Is hydro-jetting acceptable for old pipes? It depends on the condition of the old pipes. Before hydro-jetting old pipes, do a camera sewer inspection to determine their ability to withstand high water pressure. Depending on the inspection result, you may use or reject hydro-jetting.

The 5 Most Common Plumbing Issues in Commercial Buildings

The 5 Most Common Plumbing Issues in Commercial Buildings

Plumbing systems are often the most overworked mechanical systems in any building. Throughout the course of a single day and, sometimes even at night, the plumbing is called upon to handle a constant load of clean water, wastewater, and submerged solids.

Plumbing systems are exposed to a wide variety of stresses. Some of these stresses include the friction and corrosive effect of flowing water, along with the chemical impact of the dissolved contents in the water. Plumbing systems may also be damaged by mishandling.

This is why plumbing issues are easily the most common maintenance issue you will have in your building. In addition to this, the other two challenges with plumbing issues at your business are that they are tricky to detect and costly to fix.

Plumbing issues in commercial buildings

The impact of malfunctioning plumbing systems is greater when it happens in a commercial building. Commercial plumbing systems are more extensive and a lot more complicated than residential systems, explains Campus Connection Management. When they have problems, those problems tend to be harder to solve.

Moreover, because of the number of people who use a commercial facility, issues with the systems will have a more widespread impact. It will not only devastate the operations of the businesses in the building, but it can also hurt the income of your tenants.

This is why it is important to know the common plumbing issues you are likely to encounter in your commercial building. Knowing this will let you determine the right steps to protect the systems, detect problems early and solve them before they get worse.

Here are the 5 most common plumbing issues in commercial buildings:

Clogged drains

Clogged drains are probably the number one issue you will face with your commercial plumbing system. This is partly due to the large volume of waste passing through the drainpipes. Also, commercial plumbing is more exposed to abuse, since it is harder to control the number of people in the facility who uses the plumbing. 

As a result, you are more likely to have issues with people flushing non-flushable objects into the drains. Additionally, the presence of commercial kitchens, restaurants, or similar businesses in a commercial building means there is a huge possibility of fats, oils, and grease (FOGs) finding their way into the drains and clogging them.

All kinds of leakages

Commercial plumbing systems are expansive; they feature miles and miles of pipework that are subject to constant pressure throughout the day. With the level of sustained use that commercial plumbing systems see, it is normal for problems to occur within their networks of pipes. 

One common issue is leaking from pipes, faucets, sinks, or toilets. This can be a persistent problem in commercial facilities and the issue is often connected to misuse of the plumbing by people who work in or visit the building. Another reason why leaks seem to reoccur in commercial buildings is the vastness of the system makes it hard to track problems and fix them on time.

Water temperature issues

The people who use the plumbing systems in a commercial property have the same need for hot water as people using a residential plumbing system. But because of the size of the demand for hot water in commercial facilities, commercial water heaters are many times larger and more complicated than residential systems. 

Commercial water heaters depreciate faster due to the work they must do to meet the huge demands on them. Additionally, commercial water heaters are subject to tougher regulations. They often need to be able to meet the unique hot water requirements of the businesses that occupy the facility.

Damaged piping

The incidence of damaged pipes is higher in commercial plumbing systems because of the sheer size of the pipe network. The probability of problems within a plumbing system increases with the size of the system and the number of people using it. Also, the fact that pipes in a commercial plumbing system are subject to extreme pressures that residential plumbing systems are not exposed to makes them more vulnerable to damage such as a burst pipe emergency.

Furthermore, it is a lot of work to monitor the hundreds of miles of pipes in a commercial property. Therefore, when there are problems with one of the pipe sections in the network, the chances that the issue will escalate are higher.

Sewage odors

This is probably the most damaging plumbing issue you can have on your commercial property. If bad odors are coming from pipes and plumbing fixtures in the property, it will wreak havoc on the businesses on your premises. The problem will affect everyone who visits the facility even if they don’t use any of the plumbing features. 

What causes bad odors from a plumbing system? The likely causes are burst piping, clogged drains that need cleaning, and dry pipes. Sewage odors in your facility must be dealt with quickly if you don’t want to lose your customers and subject your employees to an unpleasant working environment.

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