ABC's of Sewer

Jet Rodding

A principle goal of maintaining public support and system reliability of the wastewater collection system is to insure that sewers remain clear of stoppage and free of odor. To attain this goal, Sunnyside has a routine program of cleaning gravity sewer lines. 

The Jet Rodding program was designed to clean all sewer lines(approximately 50 miles), at least once a year. Problem areas are cleaned more frequently until system repairs are made to eliminate the restriction or problems.

Jet Truck

Maintaining a clean and fully operational sewer pipeline is the primary goal of this preventative maintenance program. Organic matter or mechanical failure can cause problems in the sewer lines. Organic build up include root intrusion and grease accumulation that can eventually clog the pipe. Mechanical problems include protruding service connections, misaligned joints, or collapsed joints.

Roots, grease and deposited solids are the most common cleaning problems. Grease builds up in a pipe over time as waste oils from the food preperation float on the surface of the wastewater and coat the inside of the line. Repeated coatings can restrict pipe to a fraction of it's original size and inhibit flow. The graese coating hardens over time and becomes difficult to remove.This problem is usually found around restaurants (commercial grease), commercial food processors, and apartment complexes (residential grease). Household garbage disposal units also affect character of residential wastewater and can lead to grease problems.

 Jetting A Sewer Main

Jet Rodding depends on the ability of high-velocity jets of water to dislodge materials from the pipe walls and transport them down the sewer. Water under high pressure (1,500-2,000 psi) is fed through a hose to a nozzle containing a rosette of jets sited so the majority of flow is ejected in the opposite direction of the flow in the hose. These jets propel the hose through the sewer and dislodge the materials on the sewer walls. A variety of nozzles are available to cope with the different pipe diameters and material encounters.