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Homeowners Should Take a Closer Look at their Drainage System – Just Don’t Forget to Call a Plumber

Plumbing is the job of unsung heroes, it takes someone dedicated to the field, trustworthy and also willing to wade through or poke around in sewage whenever necessary. Luckily, these events have declined thanks to the use of the drainage camera. Plumbers used to have to make an educated guess as to where they thought the blockage began, and if that didn’t work a lot more piping was dug up and ripped open than needed to be. This created an exceptionally large cost to the client as well as time costs for the plumber.


The drain camera service may be a tad expensive, though it is a lot cheaper than ripping through your home’s entire drainage system to find where the problem area may be. It is important to remember that though there may be a large amount of videos online explaining step-by-step instructions how to create your own drainage camera/pass it through your water system – it should not be done by those who have not been trained and who do not have the proper technology. Many YouTubers boast that their drainage camera cost only $40 to make and took no time at all. However, most of these people have no training, are unintelligible and the product they end up with is extremely unreliable.


Professional equipment and cameras for plumbing and drainage can cost $15 000, they provide high-resolution photos and lights in order to see what is being filmed in the tight, dark places usually unseen in your home. The plumbers leave your home with no mess and usually a solved drainage issue. Typical camera home visits can cost $100-$300. It is important for homeowners to have their sewage and drainage pipes checked periodically, especially for those buying or selling a home. The beauty of hiring a plumber with drainage camera technology is that you can see with your own eyes you are not being oversold. Where once persons with no plumbing experience were left in the dark, and confused as to what could be going on in their draining system can now be instantly recognizable.

Without regular blockage checks in your homes drainage, severe and costly damage can occur. When a water pipe gets backed up the water has nowhere to flow, and one blockage will create several over time. When the pipes are full and completely blocked the water will back up through the quickest exit, which would be your sinks, toilets and showers. The gray water is filled with bacteria and sewage. Not only are these health concerns for you and your family but the water itself can do damage to your floors, walls, cabinets and furniture. Most homeowner’s insurance companies do not cover this kind of damage, meaning the clogged pipes as well as your home and possessions will need repairs.


Recently there have been advancements in the drainage camera field. Envirosight, a plumbing company from Florida, has developed a new camera called the ‘Sewer Crawler’ that has side scanning capabilities, capturing consistently high-resolution detail from a pipe's interior. The camera captures pipe detail at 70 feet per minute without stopping to pan, tilt or zoom. The video is filmed with a flat scan that can be reviewed five times faster than video. It is also integrated with ROVVER crawlers and WinCan software to save money.

Drain camera technology will continue to advance and save homeowners thousands of dollars in repairs. Taking the proper precautions in eliminating or preventing blockage is an issue everyone with a home should keep in mind. Think of it as going to the doctor for a colonoscopy. Sure, you could try it yourself… but is it worth the damage you’re sure to cause? Though plumbing will never be considered a glamorous job, it is a necessary one and one that should be left to professionals like Anta Plumbing with the proper equipment.

What do you think?

Written by Anta

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