Your Backup Plan

A concerned Mt. Ida, Arkansas, citizen was the first to see it: sewage flowing from a manhole in the middle of a local street. It was big news in the quiet town located about 100 miles from Little Rock, the state's capital.

STORY BY :: KAREN J. BANNAN

Jo Childress, the town's mayor, called in Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Central Arkansas. A camera was fed into the line and uncovered a sticky problem, she says.

"You could see the water and the inside of the pipe. You also saw [tree] roots, rocks, and grease. It was a giant grease clog," says Childress. A clog that traveled from one manhole to the next, and affected two town blocks.

Mt. Ida's problem originated in a nursing home. Although the home was outfitted with kitchen grease traps, they just weren't doing the job. As a result, cooking oil was flowing out of the home and into the main sewer line. Eventually, all that oil — when mixed with dirt and debris — plugged up the apipes. It was a problem that would take three days to fix, and one that Mayor Childress monitored from start to finish.

Your Problem, My Problem

Mt. Ida's problem is occurring on a smaller scale across the country. Most homeowners unknowingly wash cooking oil, body oil, and other oil-based residues such as dishwashing and laundry detergent down their drains every day. Normally, these materials move through pipes without a problem, but over time a JELL-O-like buildup can develop. When that happens, you'll have a backup.

"There's no such thing as a clog fairy — some mythical person who clogs the pipes. It's either a mechanical failure or a pipe separation, or maybe someone flushes a toy," explains Glenn Gallas, Mr. Rooter franchise owner in Central Arkansas. "But 75 percent of the time it's another culprit — a slow buildup of scum. Just like as you get older, your arteries clog; think of the pipes as the arteries of the home. Oil stagnates. Little bits of debris such as paper start collecting on the sides of the pipe. Eventually, the pipe is clogged."

The first hint of a problem might be a stopped-up kitchen sink or toilet, or maybe a slow-draining shower. "Although some homeowners try do-it-yourself fixes such as liquid drain cleaner or plungers, they are a temporary remedy," says Gallas.

"The typical home emergency drain treatments you can buy from hardware stores are caustic. They are designed to remove the clog where it is. The liquid treatments will eat a hole through whatever is in the drain, but once a hole is through, the treatment is washed away," he says. "Imagine building a dam and putting a little hole through it. It eats a portion of the clog and gives you temporary relief, but doesn't solve the problem."

Plungers are even worse. Since they generate pressure against the clog, they can actually break the seals on a pipe and cause a leak or push the plug further down the drain. A better option: call in a specialist.

The Solution

Mayor Childress of Mt. Ida did just that. A Mr. Rooter specialist came out to the manhole location and opened it up. Mr. Rooter tried cabling the line first, but it was obvious that cabling alone wouldn't do the job. The clog was too big and thick.

More commonly known as snaking the line, cabling requires a special machine. The machine has a large drum that contains a cable made from coiled wire with blades attached to it. Once inserted into the pipe, it moves through the pipe in a circular motion, cutting and moving the clog simultaneously forward and away from the sides of the pipe.

Roger Goertz, Mr. Rooter franchise owner of the greater Houston area explains, "When you put the cabling machine through the line, it turns in a clockwise fashion. It's twisting as it goes through with a spiral effect. It moves the clog, but it's only cleaning a portion of the drain line, which is the portion where the blades are actually hitting the pipe. "

Which is why the typical warranty is a mere 30 days on a cabled drain clearing.

In some instances, the lines under the manhole covers aren't just clogged, but damaged due to root intrusion — roots growing into the pipes. "Cabling the pipe would cut some of the roots out, but what is left could quickly regrow if left alone," says Goertz, who often encounters similar problems in his own state.

"Tree roots will grow to the nearest source of water and fertilizer. Not only do you have water in sewer lines, but also fertilizer, so roots will always come back," says Goertz. "Once inside, roots are very soft, very pliable. They can be the thickness of a straight pin or pencil lead or an actual pencil. When the cable is twisting, it's just giving the roots a haircut or not cutting them at all."

Glenn Gallas knew this too — it would only be a matter of time before the sewers would overflow again unless he could clear everything out of the pipes. So his team brought in the big guns: a water- and pressure-based technology called HydroScrub.

Blowing It All Away

There are three types of HydroScrub machines. The first is a small portable unit that uses electricity to operate the pump. It will have a hose that is less than an inch in diameter and is 50 to 75 feet long. This is used for small inside lines, 1 1/4" to 3" in diameter.

The second type uses a gasoline engine to operate the pump and is transported on a two-wheel dolly. This unit has a hose that is generally less than an inch in width. This HydroScrub unit cannot go inside a building due to the exhaust.

The third version is a large, self-contained, trailer-based model that features 500 feet of high-pressure hose and a 300-gallon water storage tank. It's designed to service outside sewer and drain lines.

First, plumbing professionals use a cable to open the drain and allow the water to go down. The camera, much like the one that Gallas used in Mt. Ida, is used to identify the problem. Then they HydroScrub it to pull out any foreign objects that were accidentally flushed or dropped down the drain. The HydroScrub will also remove rocks, sand, grease, or just about anything else.

The hose of the HydroScrub features a small nozzle with numerous tiny openings on the front and sides. This end is inserted into the drain. The opposite end is attached to a high pressure pump. When the water and pump are turned on, it blasts away dirt and grease much the same way a garden sprayer cleans a walkway — using pressure and force created by the moving water.

"It's sort of like a giant car wash, but for a pipe's insides. If you could imagine a small golf ball, you'd have one hole drilled in the very front so you have water spraying out the front. And at the back, you've got three or four holes spraying water back towards you," explains Goertz. "It's designed that way so the HydroScrub head and hose will jet its way through the drain pipe. You've got one penetrating stream out front and three or four coming backwards. It washes away everything in its path." And it's no wonder. The HydroScrub's water pressure can range from 1,200 to over 4,000 pounds per square inch (PSI).

Wipe the Slate Clean

The process usually takes about two hours to complete in the home. The actual HydroScrubbing only takes about an hour, but the prep work and cleanup can often take an additional hour, says Gallas. Commercial clogs can take much longer. In both cases, plumbing specialists are inconspicuous and meticulous in their work.

Mt. Ida's problem required the large, trailer-based HydroScrub, which Mayor Childress watched in progress. The before and after shots from the pipe-based video camera were illuminating. The difference was night and day, she says, which isn't surprising because HydroScrub can get pipes 96 percent clean — almost as clean as a brand new pipe.

Mayor Childress implemented a regular maintenance program for the town's sewer lines once her problem was solved. As for the local nursing home, it fixed its own grease problem by introducing a bacteria-based system that keeps problems at bay. Either way, Mayor Childress says she will monitor her sewer lines and would happily use the HydroScrub system again if the clog returned.

"We want to watch out for problems ahead of time," she says. "You could have a manhole that fills up and you won't know there's a problem until you have another overflow. If it does, we know what to do."

Karen J. Bannan is a freelance journalist based in New York. She covers business, health, and technology for publications such as Woman's Day, Robb Report, Advertising Age, and Parents.