Anaheim Hydro Jetting

Hydro jetting in Anaheim clears a clogged sewer lateral or drain by driving water at high pressure through a hose with a nozzle that pulls itself up the pipe. Instead of poking a hole through a blockage, it scours grease, scale and root mats off the pipe wall. We look with a camera first, jet the line, then look again so you can see the result.

In Anaheim, the whole lateral is yours

The City of Anaheim’s guide to sewer laterals is direct about ownership. Unlike the water service, the entire sewer lateral is private property, and the owner is responsible for its full length, including the stretch that runs under the street. The city’s Sewer and Storm Drain Maintenance Division looks after the mains. So if your house is backing up while the street main is flowing, the problem is on your side, and it is worth fixing properly.

The same guide says most Anaheim laterals are vitrified clay pipe with an average service life of 30 to 50 years, and that roots usually get in through a crack or loose joint that was already there. That matches what a camera tends to show in older clay: roots at the joints, grease rings, and silt in the low spots.

Different parts of town, different pipes

• Anaheim Colony. The city’s first historic district follows the 1857 colony lines at North, South, East and West Streets and holds more than 1,000 historic structures, such as the 1916 Wohlgemuth House on North Olive Street. Plumbing in houses this old is often a patchwork of original pipe and later repairs, so we go slowly and camera everything.
• West Anaheim. Most homes between Euclid Street and the Cypress city line went up in the 1950s and 1960s, which puts many original clay laterals past the service life the city quotes.
• Anaheim Hills. Building started in 1971 on hillside land. The city’s guide lists earth movement and soil expansion among the things that shorten a lateral’s life, so we check for shifted joints before we put pressure on the line.
• The Resort, Platinum Triangle and Anaheim Canyon. Kitchens near Disneyland and Angel Stadium and businesses in the canyon industrial area send heavy grease loads downstream, and grease is what jetting removes best.

How the visit runs

We start at your clean-out, the capped pipe usually found near the foundation or in the front yard. A camera goes in first so we know the pipe material, where the blockage sits and whether any section is cracked or sagging. If the pipe can take it, we run the jetter from the clean-out toward the street and work the nozzle back and forth through the trouble spots. Then the camera goes back in and you see the same joints, clean. If the camera shows a broken or collapsed section, we stop and talk about sewer repair before putting any pressure on it.

Jetting or snaking in an Anaheim house?

A cable machine is a fair first step for one stopped-up sink or toilet. For a main line that keeps backing up, which in a 1950s or 1960s clay lateral usually means roots and grease working together, a cable tends to open a channel that closes again within months. Jetting cleans the full width of the pipe. Clay in good shape handles it well; clay with open cracks needs the camera to make the call. We lay out the trade-offs in hydro jetting vs. snaking.

Who to call for what

• Water pressure, meters or bills: Anaheim Public Utilities, which pumps most of the city’s water from its own groundwater wells and buys the rest from the Metropolitan Water District.
• A spill, a missing manhole cover or a backup in the street main: Public Works Operations at (714) 765-6860.
• Permits for lateral repair or replacement: the Building Division of Anaheim Planning and Building. The city’s lateral guide asks owners to make sure the plumber pulls the right permits before any significant work.
• Treatment: once wastewater leaves the city mains, OC San, the Orange County Sanitation District, treats it.
• A clog or backup on your property: us.

Our current special is $299 hydro jetting from a clean-out (terms apply; up to 75 ft with proper access); details are on the coupons page. For everything else we do in the city, see our Anaheim plumbing page. Call (888) 300-9648 any time; the line is answered 24/7.