Laguna Beach Hydro Jetting

In Laguna Beach, hydro jetting is often the right fix for a sewer lateral packed with roots, which the city names as the main cause of its sewage spills. A jetter fed in at a clean-out cuts the roots and flushes the pipe clean, and a camera shows the pipe before and after.

Laguna’s lateral rules, in plain terms

The city adopted a Private Sewer Lateral Program in 2004. The short version:

• You own the lateral from your house to the city’s sewer main, including the connection to the main, and you are responsible for keeping it working.
• When city crews video the public mains and see roots, cracks or separated joints coming from a private lateral, the owner gets a notice and has 180 days to start maintenance or make repairs.
• A video inspection is required after a significant remodel. Condominiums, apartments and other common-interest properties must video their laterals every five years.
• Replacement is not mandatory if routine cleaning keeps the lateral working. If a spill happens and the owner has made no good-faith effort to maintain the line, the city can levy fines.
• Before any plumber cleans roots from a lateral, the city asks them to call its Plumber’s Hotline.

The program covers the city’s sewer area south to Nyes Place. South of that, South Coast Water District handles the sewers and runs its own lateral program.

Why roots win here

Laguna Beach was settled in the 1870s and incorporated in 1927. Craftsman bungalows from the early 1900s still stand downtown and in South Laguna, and a citywide survey in 1980 and 1981 classified 706 homes and structures as historically significant. Laterals from those years were usually clay or cast iron laid in short sections, and every joint is a way in for roots. Early settlers planted eucalyptus groves, and today’s mature trees and landscaping go looking for the water in old sewer joints.

The ground adds its own complications. The town climbs quickly from the beach into the San Joaquin Hills, topping out at 1,007 feet on Temple Hill in Top of the World. Hillside and canyon homes, in Bluebird Canyon or on the streets above town, can have long, steep laterals with the clean-out far from the street. The city runs 26 lift stations to move wastewater over this terrain and sends it through the four-mile North Coast Interceptor to the Coastal Treatment Plant in Laguna Niguel, operated by the South Orange County Wastewater Authority.

How we jet a Laguna lateral

The camera comes first, fed in at the clean-out, and we note root masses, cracks and joint gaps along the way. For roots we use a cutting nozzle, then a flushing pass to carry the debris out to the main. The camera goes back in to confirm the pipe is open and to show any section that needs repair. The city advises owners to ask for a copy of the inspection video, and it is worth keeping in case you remodel later.

Jetting or snaking a root problem

A cable with a root-cutting head opens a path but leaves root stubs on the pipe wall, and they grow back quickly. Jetting cleans more of the pipe’s circumference. Neither one seals an open joint, so roots eventually return, and the city’s program accepts routine cleaning as maintenance. If roots keep coming back, read how often a root-prone sewer line should be jetted.

Is it a clog or a dry trap?

A sewer smell indoors is not always a blockage. The city points out that a drain used rarely, such as a guest shower or a laundry floor drain, can lose the water in its trap and let sewer gas in. Run water down it first. If the smell stays, call a plumber.

Who to call

Most of the city’s water comes from Laguna Beach County Water District; part of South Laguna is on South Coast Water District. Report a spill from a public manhole to the city north of Nyes Place or to the district south of it. Lateral repair on your property needs a city plumbing permit from the Building Division of Community Development, and work in the street, including the connection to the main, needs a public works permit.

Our current special is $299 hydro jetting, from a clean-out (terms apply; up to 75 ft with proper access).

For hydro jetting anywhere in Laguna Beach, call (888) 300-9648, answered 24/7.