Cameras & video systems used to inspect slow, clogged,or damaged drains, sewer pipes or septic piping can also be used to examine a septic tank or other piping systems.

Discovering clogged plumbing or sewer drain, waste vent piping and finding the nature of the trouble as well as its exact location is a valuable diagnostic tool.

Page top photo: the presence of soil and broken segments of terra-cotta piping mark both the location of a recurrent clog in this Seattle Washington buried sewer line and also the location of breaks in the sewer piping that mean we can expect blockages to recur.

This article series discusses how to diagnose and repair clogged sewer lines, drain lines, septic systems or drain, waste or vent piping.

Drain Piping, Septic or Sewer Line Inspection Cameras

There can be several reasons to rent a drain line or sewer pipe video inspection camera system or to hire a plumber or other expert to perform that service for you.

Buying a home whose sewer piping condition is unknown or in question, maintaining a home with clogged or slow drain lines, or diagnosing drain odors and noises may require an inspection of the drain interior.

Push cameras used to inspect the interior of piping systems are used in various industries including oil and gas, HVAC, sewer and drain systems, food production, and other applications.

A drain inspection video camera like Rigid's SeeSnake® can perform these tasks and if there is a problem it can tell you just where the problem is along the length of the sewer pipe.

Article Contents

• SEWER / SEPTIC PIPE CAMERAS
  • CLOGGING PLUMBING DRAIN INDICATORS
  • VISUAL INSPECTION RAISES DRAIN LINE WORRIES
  • DRAIN & SEWER VIDEO INSPECTION CAMERA CAPABILITIES
  • DRAIN & SEWER VIDEO CAMERA RESULT PHOTOS
  • DRAIN & SEWER VIDEO CAMERA SOURCES

Signs of Clogged Sewer or Septic Main Drain Lines

Plumbing drains in a building, in the building's vent piping, and in sewer pipes or private septic system pipes can become clogged, damaged, or just slow to drain for a variety of reasons.

Even when there is no evidence of a current slow or blocked building drain or sewer line, there may be clues suggesting a history of drain clogging that presage future trouble and costly repairs. These include:

• Age of the building and its plumbing: older buildings may be connected to buried drain lines constructed
  
  of ORANGEBURG PIPE [web article] or terra-cotta pipe.
  
  Both of these materials are at extra risk of collapse or breakage when they age.
  
  See PLUMBING MATERIALS & FIXTURES AGE, TYPES such as lead and clay pipes, orangeburg pipe, cast iron, galvanized iron, PVC and ABS plastics
• Drain cleaners: reports of periodic use of drain cleaner chemicals or drain de-cloggers, or visual evidence: bottles of drain cleaner in the building or in its trash bins.
  
  See DRAIN CLEANER CHEMICALS

• Drain pipe cleared by power auger: reports of periodic use of drain cleaners, power augers to clear drain lines, or "roto rooter" services.
  
  An experienced plumber can often find the distance to a drain blockage using a simple plumbing snake. But she won't know the overall condition of the drain line nor if there are further blockages or points of damage further along the drain pipe.
  
  See FIND DISTANCE to DRAIN BLOCKAGE
  
  While "Roto-Rooter" or similar names (see photo below) are often used as a generic term for the use of a power-auger to clear clogged drain lines, Rotor-Rooter® is the registered trademark of a specific plumbing and drain service franchise cited below.
  
  Plumbing and septic contractors offer a variety of services to inspect and repair clogged or damaged drain, waste or vent piping including use of a video camera to inspect the drain line interior.
  
  See USE a POWER SNAKE to CLEAR a BLOCKED DRAIN

• Slow building drains at all fixtures
  
  usually means a main drain blockage or possibly a main plumbing vent defect. Individual fixtures that drain slowly while others drain rapidly point instead to a local drain blockage or even a clogged trap.
  
  See CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
• Odors of sewer gas 
  
  or "sulphur" smells in the building
  
  See PLUMBING SYSTEM ODORS - home
  and
  
  See SEWER GAS ODORS
• Plumbing drain noises
  
   such as gurgling and bubbling when wastewater is flushed down toilets, sinks, tubs or other fixture drains.
  
  See PLUMBING DRAIN NOISE DIAGNOSIS
• Sewage backups
  
   into the building including reports of prior plumbing backups or the possibly the presence of newly-remodeled basements where water entry or a sewage backup may have occurred.
  
  See SEWAGE BACKUP, WHAT TO DO

If a drain or sewer pipe is actually broken or has become totally clogged, it's likely that excavation and repair or replacement of the drain line will be needed - usually a significant expense.

Even then, knowing exactly where the blockage is located can both speed the repair and significantly reduce the repair cost by avoiding digging willy-nilly along an entire drain line route to find the trouble.

Preliminary Visual Inspection Can Show a History of Drain Problems

Our photo shows two concerns at a building main drain exit point:

1. A connection between the cast-iron building drain and a terra-cotta sewer pipe was made as a simple slip-together joint. It's leaking. The excavation hole filled with sewage effluent.
2. The old terra-cotta sewer pipe is at risk of breakage and blockage along its route, from vehicle traffic, frost heaves, improper backfill that included rocks rather than sand, or root intrusion.

Inspection of the exterior of a drain line in a building, where accessible, can often find signs of trouble such as

• Leaks in drain piping, corrosion, leak stains on pipes, leak stains below pipes on ceilings, walls, floors
• Physical damage to exposed section of drain piping visible along piping runs
• Inadequate support of drain piping creating low spots likely to clog
• Evidence of repeated repairs to the drain piping: glued-in or soldered-in new segments along older drain pipes

Below our photo shows active leaking at a main copper drain line in a New Jersey medical center. By removing sections of a water-stained suspended ceiling tile one could ultimately find this active sewage leak into an office space.

Below we see the traditional "jackleg" plumber repair of a leaky toilet seal: stuffing rags and insulation around a toilet leak allows the worker to guarantee her work until her truck reaches the end of the driveway.

Video Camera Drain Line or Sewer Line Inspection Finds These Problems

But often what's needed is an inspection of the pipe interior to find damage or blockage points. A sewer line or drain line inspection camera uses a video camera attached to a flexible rod or line that is pushed into and through a drain line from a convenient point of entry (such as a main building drain cleanout).

The video inspection camera is pushed along the course of the main drain line until it reaches a destination such as a main public sewer pipe, a septic tank, or a septic distribution box or the end of a leach field drain line.

Pipes ranging from two inches to 36 inches in diameter are inspected by this method.

Smaller drain line video inspection cameras are available to inspect the interior of in-building plumbing systems.

Below: like our page top photo, in the sewer line video image captured here we see pieces of broken terra cotta pipe as well as a bit of soil inside the sewer line. Notice that the image includes the distance from the point of entry into the sewer pipe to this point of damage (44 ft.).

A both with live video and with camera-captured snapshots, a sewer line inspection camera can show the overall condition of a buried drain line including indicating defects in the sewer or septic piping such as

• Animals or objects trapped in sewer piping.
  
  Sewer line and plumbing pipe video inspection camera systems have also been used to find jewelry or other valuable items lost down drains or into wells. Similar cameras are also used to inspect chimneys.
  
  See CHIMNEY FLUE INSPECTION CAMERA
• Blockages or clogs
  
   in the sewer line from any source or cause
• Broken sewer or drain or septic piping
  
   sections, connections, components
• Collapsing sewer or septic piping
  
   caused by vehicles, earth pressure, installation errors
  
  See DRIVING or PARKING OVER SEPTIC
  
  and
  See BED the SEWER LINE in SAND
• Distance from the drain cleanout to a blockage,
  
  damage, or defect, showing just where to dig to repair a specific sewer pipe problem
• Leaks
  
   into our out of the buried drain piping
• Root clogging
  
   of the sewer line
  
  See ROOT KILLERS in SEWER LINES or SEPTIC PIPES
• Slope defects in the drain routing:
  
  humps, depressions in the sewer line. Both humps and depressions in the sewer line form points of recurrent accumulation of solid waste and thus sewer or drain line blockages.
  
  Normal drain line slope is 1/8" to 1/4" per foot.
  
  Steep slope septics may require special measures including routing the line along rather than straight down the slope.
  
  See SEWER / SEPTIC LINES at STEEP SITES

Examples of Sewer Pipe Video Inspection Camera Findings

Dislocated sewer pipe joints & root intrusion in the sewer or septic line

Above and below: the video camera line inspection shows a modest dislocation in a sewer line pipe joint through which roots are growing.

Even a small root intrusion or pipe joint dislocation can accumulate or block the flow of solid waste leading to slow gurgling drains and ultimately to a complete drain blockage.

Our photos above show root invasion at 27 feet and at 83 feet in this buried sewer line in Seattle, WA.

Here is a brief VIDEO of SEWER CAM in OPERATION examining the drain line above. [74 MB .mp4 file]

Watch out: particularly at older properties the planting of trees and other shrubs, even some grasses risks root-clogging of older sewer or drain piping, particularly when the drain pipes are constructed of hub-joined terra cotta (photo above) or

of ORANGEBURG PIPE .

Roots find any leak or break in a sewer line. Using a rotary power snake can temporarily clear the clogged drain line if it is not severely broken or collapsed, but the roots will return unless the source-plant is removed or the cracked, leaky line replaced.

See PLANTS & TREES OVER SEPTIC SYSTEMS

Simply using a "root killer" chemical is not a repair for root-invaded sewer or septic piping, it won't unblock a root-clogged line quickly, and it may contaminate nearby wells or waterways.

See ROOT KILLERS in SEWER LINES or SEPTIC PIPES

In our photo above, we see an accumulation of many pieces of broken terra cotta pipe as well as quite a bit of soil inside the sewer line.

This point in the sewer pipe (40 ft.) is at or just past a point of significant damage to the drain line.

Watch out: when we see broken pieces of piping inside the sewer line we know this line is in poor condition and will need to be replaced or perhaps re-lined using a trenchless sewer line repair method.

See TRENCHLESS SEWER REPLACEMENT

Below: grease deposits in a sewer line, photo courtesy of home inspector DovBer Kahn.

 

Where to Buy or Rent a Drain & Sewer Video Inspection Camera

Pipe inspection video camera systems are available in a wide range of capacity including cable length, camera quality, image quality, pipe diameter size capacity, and other features.

Prices range from a small hand-held borescope pipe inspection camera for less than $40. U.S. (From DBPower) to camera systems in the $8000. and up price range.

• Building maintenance & repair rental centers near your home may have a video camera system you can rent.
  
  Keep in mind that you will be required to handle heavy equipment and you'll need to protect yourself and the camera usage location from sewage contaminants.
• DBPower short-cable video inspection endoscope camera provides a video inspection system that connects to a laptop computer's USB bus.
  
  The company describes its camera as suitable for automotive applications as well as pipe inspection.
• Gen-Eye Pipe Inspection / Location System, provided by General Wire Spring Co., includes both inspection and pipe location equipment. General Pipe Cleaners Division of General Wire Spring Company 1101 Thompson Avenue McKees Rocks, PA 15136 USA 800-245-6200 Tel: 412-771-6300
• Plumbing contractors near your home often own and are experienced in using a video camera system to inspect sewer or drain lines. We recommend this approach to investigate sewer and drain piping condition and location.
• Fiberscope produces a range of push cameras including video camera systems designed for 2" and 3" drain pipe or sewer piping system inspections. This company also produces video inspection camera systems capable of inspecting small diameter pipes with their smallest cam at 0.67" in diameter.
  
  Website: http://www.fiberscope.net/push-cameras.html Tel: 1-877-839-0540 Good luck finding the actual physical address of this company.
• Forbest portable color sewer/drain camera systems, sold by third party vendors such as globalindustrial.com This product line includes a small suitcase sized portable video camera system for sewer lines up to 100 feet in length.
• Insight Vision is a sewer camera manufacturer producing a range of 200 foot capacity sewer and drain line inspection cameras. Insight | Vision 600 N. Dekora Woods Blvd. Saukville, WI 53080, USA Technical Support 1-800-488-8177 www.insightvisioncameras.com
• Rigid Corporation makes a wide range of drain and sewer video inspection reels and cameras including the company's SeeSnake® video inspection camera shown at the start of this article.
  Contact: Ridge Tool Company 400 Clark St Elyria, OH 44035 US Website: https://www.ridgid.com Tel: 1-800-4-RIDGID (1-800-474-3443) Email: rtccustomerservice@emerson.com
  
  Also see Rigid's SeeSnake CS1000 quick start guide [PDF] https://www.ridgid.com/Download/cs1000_Quick_Start_verOB_revA_12-13-10.pdf
• RABCO's Mini Roller Sewer Camera Skid systems are used in 4" to 6" sewer lines and include rollers to keep the camera centered. The company produces other roller-supported cameras used in larger pipelines including a skid for 6" to 18" diameter lines. Sold or rented by third party vendors. Difficult to find the company's home page or contact information for this product.
• Viztrac Sewer Cameras offer sewer & drain line video inspection systems. Viztrac sewer cameras are distributed by plumbing suppliers. I found it difficult to find the company's own contact information other than that they're located in Cleveland OH.

Contributors

• Dov Ber Kahn, a home inspector in Rockland County, NY has contributed photographs of various building features to InspectApedia. Mr. Kahn is a licensed home inspector in New York and New Jersey, and can be reached at Website: Kahnbhomeinspectors, Tel: 845-445-8234, Email: kdovber@googlemail.com

 

...

Continue reading  at SEWER LINE CLOGS & DAMAGE or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• CHIMNEY FLUE INSPECTION CAMERA
• CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR - home
• GREASE INTERCEPTORS TRAPS
• SEPTIC SYSTEM TEST BASICS - quick guide for buying a home with a septic tank
• HOME BUYERS GUIDE to SEPTIC SYSTEMS
• HOME SELLERS GUIDE TO SEPTIC INSPECT
• MEASURE SEPTIC TANK SCUM & SLUDGE we describe cameras and other tools used to insepect the interior of a septic tank
• PLANTS & TREES OVER SEPTIC SYSTEMS - a common cause of clogged or damaged sewer or septic piping failures
• SEWAGE PUMP DAMAGE & REPAIR
• SEWER BACKUP PREVENTION
• SEWER GAS TESTS & DETECTION
• SEWER LINE CLOGS & DAMAGE
• SEWER LINE LEAKS & ODORS
• SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT
• SEWER / SEPTIC PIPE CAMERAS
• WELL BORE CAMERA SYSTEMS TOOLS

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SEWER / SEPTIC PIPE CAMERAS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to SEPTIC SYSTEMS

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