Trenchless Drain & Sewer Line Repair

The plumbing and waste piping system is considered as an integral part of every home or the business but often goes neglected and unnoticed until the time it breaks down and creates a mess to handle. The damaged or faulty plumbing system not only wastes the water but it also causes severe health-related problems when there it is clogged or blocked somewhere. As such, it is imperative to check and monitor your home plumbing system from time to time in order to prevent any unexpected issue.

However, if the plumbing system of your house or business stops working properly due to any damage to the underground waste pipes, making a repair to these can be a daunting undertaking, especially the sewer and waste line needs to be replaced, for example from your house to the street main sewerage point. In order to cater for the waste line replacement problem, trenchless technology is in practice and remained effective for the last forty years. Trenchless technology is widely accepted and used worldwide, a less invasive and effective technique than the other traditional methods that are used to repair and replace sewer pipes.

It is essential to explain here that the trenchless technology is basically an umbrella or collective term for a number of replacement and installation techniques used by the plumbers worldwide for pipes and other utilities such as the fiber optic cables and gas lines. The trenchless technology involves minimum disruption to the surface due to the excavation. For example, using the standard method of replacing any particular waste or sewer line will require the use of digging and excavation equipment which will tear open a trench in order to access the waste line. As such, the standard method is very disruptive to the property itself and to the neighbor as well. Using the standard method to access the waste line will also require heavy machinery along with a large amount of labor and time. However, by using the trenchless technology to repair or replace the sewer line, you can avoid almost whole digging work and replace or repair the line without disruption.

If you look deep into the history of trenchless technology, it was originally started in coal mining in order to reach and access the difficult-to-reach areas. At later stages, the technology was adopted into the construction and civil engineering in order to lay down pipes and gas lines.

How Trenchless Technology Works

Just to explain how the trenchless technology works, here’s is the example to explain how we can use this technology in order to replace waste pipeline. Following steps will be taken in order to replace the pipeline.

• The technician or plumber will monitor and identify the problem first and will dig a small hole at the edge of the house, where the waste or the main water supply line crosses to underground municipality waste system. The technician will access the end of the pipe and simply detach it from the main line and attach a hydraulic device to the end of the pipe.
• Next, the technician or plumber will identify the location of the sewer line in the house and simply slide and HDPE pipe into the interior of the pipe (which needs to be replaced or repaired).
• Now, the hydraulic device attached to the other end of the pipe (outside) draws the pipeliner through the waste line and will set it into place.
• After this, the device buster “special equipment” is used to burst the outer pipe (damaged) as the new HDPE pipe is already inserted and fixed to the main line.
• Now the old damaged waste line is replaced with the new pipe which is already connected to the main municipality waste line. After this process, the small hole which was dug outside the house can be filled.

It is pertinent to explain here that using the trenchless technology, the whole process i.e. replacing the old and installing the new pipeline normally takes only a few hours as compared to the standard technique which will require several days and disruption to the property and the neighbors.

Methods used in Trenchless Technology

There are mainly two methods (both trenchless) that are used by the plumbers to repair and replace the sewer or waste line. A professional plumber can determine the appropriate solution which is best suitable by keeping in view the situation. As mentioned earlier, only one or two small holes are required while using the trenchless technology to repair or replace the pipe. Let’s explore the two trenchless techniques that are used widely.

1. The Pipe Bursting Technique

While using the pipe bursting technique, normally two holes are required to be made in order to replace or repair the damaged pipe. Cable or liner is inserted into the pipe through the hydraulic device, the end of the liner is then attached to the bursting head which pulled through the new pipe and burst the old sewer line.

2. Cured in Place Pipe Method (CIPP)

During this particular trenchless technique, liner, filled with PVC resin is inserted into the damaged pipe through the hydraulic device. Once the liner is in place, the PVC resin becomes hard and create a smooth new obstacle free interior to the damaged pipe for the smooth flow of waste or water.

Benefits of Trenchless Technology

There are several benefits associated with the use of trenchless technology in plumbing and construction. The traditional or standard practice to replace or repair the damaged pipeline does require a lot of digging and excavation which ultimately cause disruption to the property and the neighbors. Moreover, it normally requires weeks to complete one simple job with massive heavy equipment and machinery. Whereas, using the trenchless technology is a lot easier and disruption-free and only requires few hours to finish the job.

The traditional method of replacing waste line can damage your lawn, walkways, footpaths, driveways as massive digging and excavation are normally required to access the pipe which ultimately adds to the cost of repair or replace as you’ll be paying extra to fix the lawn or driveways after the job is done. However, by using trenchless technology, you may only require to make one or two holes in order to access and replace or repair the pipe.