Find Hided Clean Out

Welcome back to Happi Plumbing Channel. Today, we are going to talk about clean out. What is the clean out. In plumbing, a cleanout is an access point, typically a capped pipe, that allows for easy access to the sewer or drain line for cleaning and unclogging. It’s a way to get into the main drainage line without needing to dig up the ground or tear apart plumbing fixtures. However, sometimes the cleanout is not easy to be found. You will see how us located the clean out and help customer to solve the issues.

Customer concern

The customer experiences a main sewer line backup approximately every 3 months, causing indoor sewage overflow.

1.Inspected and diagnosed the customer’s main sewer line system.
We found a cleanout on the right side of the house that could be used as an access point for clearing the line. The distance from this cleanout to the street manhole is approximately 180 feet.
Based on the North Carolina Plumbing Code, which requires at least one cleanout every 100 feet,we determined that there must be at least one more cleanout between the house and the manhole, likely buried.

2.Used a 300+ lb heavy-duty sewer machine to clear the blockage.
During the process, tree roots were pulled back, and the blockage was roughly located at 140 feet.

3.Used a 300+ lb heavy-duty sewer machine to clear the blockage.
During the process, tree roots were pulled back, and the blockage was roughly located at 140 feet.

4.Located and excavated the buried cleanout using a professional locator device.

5.Continued the sewer camera inspection, and at 130 feet, we discovered a belly in the sewer line (a low section that holds water).
The locator showed the belly was located approximately 3 feet underground, directly beneath a large pear tree.

6.Continued the inspection.
The belly extended from 130 to 140 feet, where we discovered a damaged street cleanout buried underground.
Tree roots had entered the main sewer line through this broken cleanout, which was the root cause of the customer’s recurring backups every 3 months.

7.The depth of the street cleanout was 2 feet 1 inch, while the depth under the tree was 2 feet 9 inches, indicating the sewer line runs uphill in that section — which caused the belly.
We advised the customer to cut down the tree and remove the stump, after which we will return to excavate the area, to replace the 130–140 ft section of sewer pipe and to reinstall a proper street cleanout

8.Conclusion
Cleanouts are a critical componentof the sewer system, serving as access points for inspection, diagnostics, and clearing blockages.
They must be installed slightly above ground leveland must not be covered by grass, mulch, or soil. Once buried, the only way to locate and service them is through a sewer camera inspection and professional locating equipment, followed by excavation.

After we get the job done. No more main sewer line back up happens. The customer is super happi and we are so happi to help.

今天分享：如何找到被掩盖起来的cleanout ?

客户问题：每隔3个月左右，主下水道就会堵塞，室内污水倒灌

1、检查诊断客户的main sewer line system. 发现房子右侧有一个cleanout, 可以作为疏通的入口，离street manhole 有180ft左右 的距离，判断在房子和manhole 之间一定至少还有另外一个cleanout.

NC plumbing code 规定 每100ft 必须至少有一个cleanout

2、用300多磅的大疏通机，疏通了堵塞，拉回一些树根，大致判断堵点在140ft

3、Ran sewer camera inspection, 管道被疏通地很干净，在75ft 的位置，发现一个cleanout

4、locator 定位后挖掘，找到了这个被掩埋起来的cleanout

5、继续sewer camera inspection, 在130 ft 位置发现有一个belly，locator显示在一棵大梨树正下方3ft 深的地方。

6、继续sewer camera inspection, belly一直延伸到了140ft ,并在这个位置发现了street cleanout, 挖掘出埋在地下的破损的street cleanout, 树根是从这个破损cleanout侵入main sewer line，导致每3个月堵塞一次。

7、street cleanout 深度在2’1″ ,而大树下面的深度是2’9″ , 主污水管向uphill走了，这正是belly的成因。客户需要把这棵大树砍掉，树桩挖走，然后我们回来把地面挖开，重新排130ft –140ft 这一段污水管，并且重新安装street cleanout

8.结论： cleanout 是污水系统极其重要的组成部分，是检修诊断和疏通的入口，高度要略高于地表，不能被草皮或者mulch掩埋住了，一旦被掩埋，将不得不用sewer camera inspection, 用专业的locator 找到并挖掘出来进行维修。