CCTV Drain Inspection

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Drain Camera Inspections

A CCTV drain inspection is carried out to visually inspect the condition of the inside of underground drainage lines in Sydney such as sewer pipes and stormwater drains. Any faults, damaged pipework or tree root intrusions can be visually identified and then accurately located using an electronic locator above the ground and the work documented by digital recording to a USB flash drive.

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Visual drain inspections can also be used to locate drainage pipes for new building work such as renovations and building extensions and to locate cleanout access points for blocked drain and pipe clearing purposes.

Visual Drain Inspections Eliminate The Guesswork

Confirming A Clear Drain

CCTV drain inspections are particularly useful when used in conjunction with high pressure water Jets or electric eels when clearing and cleaning blocked sewer pipes and stormwater drains by enabling the Plumber to position drain clearing water jet nozzles or mechanical root cutting heads in the exact position required inside the pipework to achieve maximum cutting and cleaning results, which also saves time.   

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Visually inspecting the inside of a blocked drain after drain clearing will confirm the drain has been cleaned thoroughly and all the blockage and other debris causing the issue has been totally removed.

CCTV Drain Inspections & Blocked Drains

Is your Plumber using a CCTV drain camera when clearing your blocked drain?

Clearing a blocked drain is a manual cleaning process. All manual cleaning processes require constant visual confirmation and further visual inspection after the procedure to ensure the cleaning process has been carried out correctly and thoroughly.

Here are some examples of service providers that need to continually inspect their work during and after the procedure to ensure the process has been carried out correctly. It is reasonable to expect the customer would also carry out a visual inspection of the finished work to ensure they are getting what they have paid for.  

• Home cleaning business

• Vehicle detailing business

• Window cleaning business

• Carpet cleaning business

• Dry cleaning business

• House washing business

• Pool cleaning business

Unlike the drain clearing business, the above cleaning businesses do not need specialised visual inspection equipment to ensure the process has been carried out correctly because the objects they are cleaning are above ground and can be seen with the naked eye. You would be surprised and alarmed if any of these businesses carried out their work with a blind fold on! It would also be reasonable to expect that if they did the quality of their work would be of a substandard quality resulting in short term results and an unhappy customer. Well, clearing a blocked underground drain without using a CCTV drain camera to continually monitor the clearing process to confirm the work has been carried out correctly is doing just that!

Plumbers or Drainers who do not use CCTV drain camera equipment or do not use it correctly when clearing blocked drains will experience a high degree of “call backs” by homeowners due to not clearing the drain thoroughly resulting in shorter term recurring blockages particularly when the blockage was caused by tree root intrusions.

Non tree root blockages are easy to clear, so a quick CCTV camera inspection is only needed to confirm the drain is clear and no tree roots are present however if the cause of the blocked drain is tree roots and a CCTV drain camera is not used the Plumber won't know that there are tree root intrusions and so it will be highly unlikely that all the tree roots at the point of blockage will be removed and any additional tree root affected sections of pipework upstream or downstream within the sewer line will also go undetected resulting in short term recurring blockages and an unhappy customer. Just clearing the drain only and seeing water flushing away is no guarantee that the drain has been cleared properly!   

We recommend the following when contracting any Plumber or Drainer to clear your blocked drain

• Plumbing, drainage and gasfitting includes many different categories of work. Individuals need a licence before they can do any plumbing, draining or gasfitting (including LP gasfitting) work in NSW, regardless of the cost of the work and regardless of whether the work is residential, commercial, or industrial. Confirm the person who will be clearing your blocked drain is a licenced Plumber or Drainer and is experienced. Double check by asking to see the Plumbers or Drainers licence when he arrives. Beware! A "technician" or "engineer" is not a licenced Plumber or Drainer! Businesses calling their employees by these, or other names employ unlicenced and unskilled workers, labours or salesmen and pass them off to homeowners as licenced Plumbers and Drainers. Individuals carrying out plumbing, draining or gasfitting work without a licence in NSW is illegal!

• Confirm the Plumber will be using a CCTV drain camera to clear your drain correctly. Plumbers not including drain camera inspections with their service have another agenda or are just out to make a "quick buck" by only doing half the job!

• Do not rely on the Plumber simply telling you the drain is clear, be present when the work is being carried out, ask questions, and insist on being shown live video of before, during and after the work to confirm for yourself that the drain clearing process has been carried out correctly. Just seeing water flushing away is no guarantee that the drain has been cleared properly or tree roots have been removed! 

• Do not rely on seeing recorded video or pictures after the drain has been cleared, the video recording or pictures may be of someone else’s drain!

• If a Plumber informs you that your drain cannot be cleared, he may just be lazy, inexperienced, or using inferior equipment however he could be more interested in upselling you an expensive drainage repair than clearing your blocked drain! If this happens DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING and get a second opinion, preferably by a licenced Plumber who does not do drainage repairs! At least 98% of tree root blockages can be cleared with the exception being either a collapsed pipe or extreme tree root infestations being beyond the capabilities of any drain clearing equipment. We do come across blocked drains of this nature because we clear a lot of drains however it is a rare occurrence.

At DRAINS ‘R’ US our drain clearing service is all inclusive. We provide high pressure water jet drain clearing equipment with penetrating, flushing and root cutting nozzles and CCTV drain camera and location equipment and we carry out CCTV camera inspections for all our customers on every call!

Benefits Of CCTV Drain Inspection

Onboard transmitter allows for accurate location, depth, and direction information

Blocked sewers and drains are cleared more thoroughly when using a drain camera

Drain cameras are used to identify and remove tree roots impacting drains

Drain inspections to monitor pipes and tree root regrowth will avoid blockages

Video recording of drain camera inspections is supplied on USB flash drive 

A selection of camera head pipe guides and accessories to suit various pipe sizes

Self-levelling camera technology assures you are always seeing an upright picture

Drain inspections can be performed up to 60 metres from a single cleanout entry point

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