The sewer line for your home or business is essential to the cleanliness of the environment where you live or work.

In fact, if your sewer line is not working properly not only will you notice that the water and waste from each fixture is not being carried away, but you could find yourself with sewage materials backing up into your fixtures.

The whole situation just gets worse from there.

A sewer line problem is not just a problem for your building, but for the environment around where your home or commercial property is situated. The main part of your sewer line is buried in the ground outside of your home. So, if the sewer line cracks, leaks, or malfunctions in any way you will find yourself with raw sewage puddles in your yard. That raw sewage could contaminate the groundwater and surround environment, which will require special clean-up and certification that it has been properly cleaned up.

Mr. Rooter plumber walking up to a house

Which Behaviors Should I Avoid To Protect My Sewer Line?

While you don’t really see your sewer line on a daily basis, you do interact with it on a daily basis. This means that much of your behavior can either positively or negatively impact your sewer line.

Things like using your drains and plumbing appliances only in the way they were designed to be used can have a big impact on the health of your sewer system.

Here are some behaviors that you should avoid if you want to keep your sewer line in good shape:

  • Flushing non-flushable items down the toilet. Don’t use your toilet like a garbage can. Don’t flush things like dental floss, diapers, baby wipes, or q-tips down the toilet.
  • Abusing your garbage disposal. Don’t put dense or starch foods into your garbage disposal. Things like potato peels or large amounts of noodles can cause serious clogs
  • Using too much drain cleaner. Over-the-counter drain cleaners are highly caustic and are not always effective in treating drain clogs. And, if you use drain cleaner too often, you could cause a weakening in your pipes.

Make sure to avoid these behaviors so that you are not adding to the deterioration of your sewer system.

What Kind Of Problems Can My Sewer Line Develop?

Your sewer system manages some very complex materials that can be really damaging to the environment around it. So, it is important to understand what can go wrong and what the signs are:

  • Clogs in your sewer line can develop from flushing things like baby wipes down the toilet repeatedly. These clogs will cause a backup of sewage materials as there is nowhere else for them to go.
  • Cracked sewer pipes can happen when tree roots find their way into your sewer line. The tree roots will grow into the sewer pipe, and then expand as they grow until they burst your sewer pipe open
  • Sagging sewer pipes happen when there has been a shift in the soil where the sewer pipes are buried. Things like Earthquakes, heavy rains, and soil shifting can all cause the Earth to move a bit and move the pipes that are buried in it.

Any one of these scenarios will cause your sewer system to start acting funny. You will notice things like sewer odors coming from your drains, gurgling noises from your toilet, and more than one fixture at a time malfunctioning.

What Is Trenchless Sewer Line Repair?

It used to be that the only option for sewer line repair or replacement was to have the entire pipe dug up. This meant having your whole yard destroyed in an effort to get to the affected pipes.

But, more recently a technique called trenchless sewer line repair and replacement has been developed. And, the team at Mr. Rooter National City has extensive training and experience with all trenchless sewer line techniques.

  • Pipe relining: This is the process of putting a sleeve of material into the pipe that is cracked or broken and inflating the material so that it adheres to the inside walls of the broken pipe.
  • Pipe bursting: For those pipes that are cracked beyond the repair of relining, there is an option for bursting. This is where the pipes are broken into small pieces, and a new pipe is slid into its place.
  • Maintenance: Having regular maintenance appointments including a video camera inspection can give you a clear picture of the conditions of your pipes and what steps need to be taken in the case of a break

Thankfully, if you do have a sewer line problem, you can feel confident calling the expert team at Mr. Rooter of National City. We have spent years gaining the experience and knowledge necessary to manage any kind of sewer line problem.

And, we know all of the special environmental implications that a sewer line backup or leak involves. We will give you the upfront pricing you need to make informed decisions about your sewer line replacement or repair, and we guarantee our workmanship and parts.

help icon
Got a plumbing problem? Call Mr. Rooter!