Drainage Wellington Services

Majority of blocked drains are caused by broken or cracked drains allowing tree roots to grow inside. This usually blocks the drain. In rare situations, a foreign object goes down to the drain and blocks it. When the object goes inside, it has to pass through the pan U-bend or the gully trap U-bend where the waste pipes discharge.

There are different methods of unblocking drains depending on what is blocking it. For example, sand in stormwater drains will not be removed by using a drain clearing machine. In this case, we use an industrial water blaster. The same applies to roots heavily infested in drains. Industrial water blasters will be more successful than cutting the roots with a machine. In some remote locations and drains, a machine is very useful. Wellington is one of the most difficult locations in the world to unblock drains due to its hilly topography and long back sections far back from the road. Some drains are over 100 years old as well. The drains are often deep underground due to filling deposited on top of them form the flat ground, the drains are hard to locate, and work on due to retaining walls built over the top of them.

In New Zealand, it is not required to bring drain access points to the surface which means we often have to access drains through S bend gully traps making it all the more difficult.

There are three methods of unblocking drains:

• Hand Rod with plunger or worm or some other attachment
• Machine Worm or cable with a variety of attachments
• Industrial Water Blaster.

All the above-mentioned methods of unblocking drains have advantages and disadvantages, however, none will repair a broken drain. It will only remove the blocking objects. They may remove the roots temporarily. But the only sure method of repair is a replacement. Rodding is cheaper than replacement and can keep a drain going for many years. Later even rodding needs a replacement. It is suggested that you replace it at the earliest.

Southern provides CCTV camera inspection services in Wellington for all kinds of home drainage problems. We can detect drain blocks and leaks with the help of an inspection camera or a drain camera. Drain cameras give assurance and identify the problem most of the time.

Most drain layers can tell you what the problem is and where it is with a hand rod assuming they can gain access to the drain. Sometimes drain cameras might not see cracks, drain leaks, and broken joints. Drain cameras will see the major damage and assist with the location to save digging in the wrong place.

Often in New Zealand, we grow large trees on our properties and these trees sometimes spread their roots around the drains. Roots might also crack the drain and start growing inside the drain itself. They run down the drain a long way getting larger and larger till the drain blocks. Cutting these roots from inside is a temporary solution. A permanent solution is to cut out the bad section of the drain and replace it. PVC is used in drainage today and does not crack unless it is heavily stressed.