A sewer lateral is the pipe connecting the household plumbing to the city’s sanitary sewer system. These pipes typically run underneath the house property before connecting with a larger pipe, called a sewer main, under the street or other nearby area.
Wastewater from the home or business combines with waste from neighboring properties and travels through the main to eventually reach a waste water treatment facility.
Because sewer laterals are owned by the property owner and some uncertainty exists surrounding who enforces maintenance, these pipes are oftentimes neglected, which can lead to serious complications.
The most common issues being assessed during lateral inspections are signs of inflow & infiltration (I&I). Because sanitary sewer systems are designed to exclusively carry waste from toilets, sinks, showers, etc., I&I can add excess groundwater or rainwater to the system, thereby risking an overflow and diminishing the city’s treatment capacity. Sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) can spill untreated sewage out into streets, parks and bodies of water, exposing the community to bacteria and creating risk for disease.
Beyond identifying signs of I&I, operators look for other defects in the lateral, including cracks, blockages and signs of deterioration. They also inspect for cross bores, ensuring other utilities installed with trenchless technology haven’t been drilled into the lateral itself, causing structural damage, and increased likelihood of blockages, and, in extreme cases, the risk of an explosion when a gas line cross bore is breached within a sewer lateral.
Why a sewer lateral inspection.
It’s hard to know what is happening in your sewage system. With so many pipes buried underground and trapped in your home’s foundation, how can you possible know what kind of condition your sewage system is in or if there are any underlying problems? Thankfully, sewer camera inspections can provide you with accurate and detailed information related to your sewer.
Bluenose Inspections utilizes camera systems to quickly and accurately diagnose any issues inside your sewer pipes, taking the guess work out of diagnosing issues as well as catching any minor issues before they become expensive problems.
The worst thing you can do if your plumbing is acting funny is put off having a sewer camera inspection done. When small issues are caught early, they can be remedied before they become large, expensive problems.
You may notice one or more of these signs if there is a potential sewer backup:
Any of these signs warrant a closer inspection to determine the cause. The sooner the cause is found, the quicker a repair can be made.
Sewer Camera Inspection Services
At Bluenose Inspections, our goal is to solve your drain issues by diagnosing, resolving, and repairing them in a timely manner. Most importantly, we want to ensure these issues don’t happen again.
Contact us today for more information about sewer camera inspections!
Sewer Repairs Can Be Extremely Expensive
You might wonder, “Do I need a sewer line inspection before buying a house?” The answer is yes. A sewer inspection should be a mandatory part of your house inspection checklist. When considering what inspections to get when buying a house, do not overlook the sewer line. In fact, getting a sewer inspection is one of the most important home inspection tips for first-time buyers. Sewer line inspections are cheap, but sewer repairs can be extremely expensive. Why spend the money on a repair when you could have avoided with a simple inspection?
There’s no such thing as a typical cost for repairing your sewer lines. It can start at a few hundred dollars to snake out a blockage. Or, it could be tens of thousands of dollars to excavate your yard and replace the pipes. The repair bills depend on the sewer line condition, the problem’s location and the root cause.
No pun intended, but speaking of roots, tree roots are the primary cause of blocked sewer lines. Fortunately, roots are easy to find with a closed-circuit television inspection. Unfortunately, they can be very expensive to dig up and clear out. Having the sewer line scoped should be on your house-buying inspection checklist. In fact, you can’t afford not to inspect the sewer line before closing your house purchase deal.
