Clogged pipes are annoyingly disruptive whether they occur on residential or commercial properties. There are multiple ways to deal with clogged pipes, including the traditional metal snake. But there is a new kid in town. It is known as hydro jetting.
Its name should give you some idea of what hydro jetting does. Cleaning clogged pipes with hydro jetting is essentially cleaning them out with high pressure water that breaks down clogs and washes them away. Think of it as pressure washing for your plumbing.
Addressing Clogs With a Snake
There is nothing inherently wrong with addressing clogged pipes using a metal snake. But there’s also nothing inherently wrong with using horse and buggy as your primary transportation. If you want to do better, hydro jetting is an option. It is faster than snaking, more thorough, and easier on pipe interiors.
Snaking clogged pipes involves inserting a steel cable with a tip designed to break through debris and push it out of the way. You insert the snake and begin rotating it as you push forward. The rotating tip does its work and clears the clog. Some snakes are manual while others can be connected to a power drill.
Snaking is effective, but only partially so. It is not guaranteed to remove all the debris causing the clog. What is left over can attract more debris that ultimately leads to a new clog at some point in the future. However, hydro jetting leaves nothing behind. It cleans pipes without damaging interior surfaces.
Simple Enough to Understand
Hydro jetting is on a list of services offered by Utah’s Beehive Plumbing. Serving Salt Lake, Utah, and Davis counties, Beehive explains that hydro jetting combines high pressure water and streaming video to completely clear out pipes once and for all.
A high-pressure water hose equipped with a jet tip is inserted into the clogged pipe. The hose is also equipped with a small video camera. Using a computer or mobile device, the technician can guide the hose through the pipe to obliterate dirt and debris. Water pressure can also be adjusted depending on clog severity and pipe condition.
Hydro jetting is so effective that it can release even the most stubborn clogs. At the hands of a skilled technician, Beehive says that hydro jetting can even clear tree roots. That is impressive.
Not a DIY Job
Given that you are working with high pressure water in a confined space, hydro jetting is not a DIY job. It requires extensive training and a hand steadied by experience. Get it wrong and you can blow a hole in your pipes. What started out as a clogged sink could turn into a major pipe replacement.
The downside to all of this is having to pay a plumbing contractor to do the work. But given the superiority of hydro jetting over DIY pipe snaking, the extra expense is worth it. Snaking might break through a clock and get the water flowing again, but it doesn’t thoroughly clean pipes. Hydro jetting does.
Something to Think About
Next time you’re looking at a clogged sink, hydro jetting might be something to think about. It’s probably not the best solution for hair and debris stuck in the trap. But for clogs further down the line, hydro jetting is ideal.
By combining video streaming with high pressure water, experienced plumbing techs can completely clean out clogged pipes. They will be like new. The water will flow freely, and you will have no more worries about the sink backing up. You will also be able to leave that snake hanging in the garage.
