Common Summer Plumbing Problems You Should Be Aware Of
With summertime and its glorious sun, the weather has become amazingly warm. You are now more likely to pack up your work at the end of a long tiring day and go to the beach for a swim or to fire up the grill. Needless to say, what you don’t want in such warm weather is to deal with plumbing related problems.
Clogged Drains
Whenever people think of heating problems in their properties, they think of the fridge shutting off or the air conditioner malfunctioning. Although these problems are frustrating during such high temperatures, they are not as costly as issues related to plumbing may be. However, there are certain ways through which such plumbing related problems may be avoided. These are:
A common problem during the hot summer, such drains build up a very bad smell after constant activity outdoors. In order to avoid such a blockage, you must ensure that none of the following is washed down the drain after an event outdoors.
- Wipes
- Food scraps
- Coffee granules
- Paper towels
- Oil and grease
These items are common for being found in clogged drains and may result in costly repairs to your drains! If you make sure these and other unusual items remain out of the sink and clean it every few days; your drains will remain clean and clear.
Leaky Pipes
Taps that are leaky in nature cause a lot of water wastage and may result in higher bills at the end of a given month. This problem occurs when pipe inspection has not been done and because of stress on the pipes, which could be due to swimming pool usage along with sprinkler and garden hose usage. Such usage may cause leakages over time. In order to avoid such a problem, try to make little use of your watermains, water your garden through the use of water butts to lower your electricity bill and lessen your stress!
Structural Damage
In the summertime, the ground underneath your home may become dry due to a lack of rainfall, which can lead to cracked pipes. UV rays and constant heat coming down on the pipes everyday may cause a lot of damage. Even though this may take a lot of time over the years, you must be wary of the initial signs of a collapsed drain and aim to deal with it as quickly as you can. Make sure to cover the pipework that is exposed around your home with insulation to make sure that the sunlight and heat from it do not cause any damage.
Clogged Gutters
It is very important to think of your gutters and their health, as poor gutter maintenance may lead to serious plumbing problems in the future. The gutters have to be completely clear and clean from any blocking debris such as twigs, leaves, and clippings of grass. This is vital to ensure that there are no blockages that may occur, causing bigger problems in the future. Thus, make sure that the gutters are cleared, either by yourself or get a professional in so that you don’t have to spend much more of your hard-earned money later. This will assist in keeping any water away from your home’s foundation.
Shower Drains Which Are Slow Clearing
Since most people enjoy going to the beach in the summertime because of the hot weather, a major impact that occurs is in your shower when you come back home. The presence of sand that you bring home may cause a blockage in the drain. To avoid this issue and to ensure the protection of your shower drains, invest in a drain cover to catch the sand brought back by everyone from the beach. Inspect your drain cover and remove any trapped debris such as hair, sand, and more to make sure that you don’t face any blocked shower drain issues during the summer.
Get It Sorted
The summertime is an ideal time to solve any problems related to drainage and plumbing as the wonderful weather allows for such maintenance to occur much more easily than usual. In addition, installations of any drainage is less likely to face any delays due to weather problems during the summer. Also, being able to fix such problems or preventing any drainage issues from occurring during the summer makes the most sense to save yourself a lot of hassle.
The most important objective for you is prevention. This refers to preventing plumbing and drainage issues during the summertime. We certainly hope that the list provided assists you in being able to enjoy your summer without any problems with plumbing or drainage.
If you’re in search of a pipe inspection system or camera, contact Scanprobe, we’ll assist you in any way we can!
Some truths about pipeline inspection cameras
Is the kitchen the heart of your home? It is the place where you share meals, bake cookies, and have awesome conversations. Well, the heart of the home definitely sounds like a great description.
What if the actual heart of your home was not something you could touch or even see?
Your plumbing team might tell you that the heart of your home, or any home for that matter, is its plumbing system. And they can prove it by making use of a pipeline inspection camera to show you around your pipes.
Buried underground and hidden behind walls, your pipes give and take round the clock to keep you and your home healthy, clean, and happy. This sounds like a fitting description for the heart of the home, what do you think?
If you have never had a sewer line camera inspection, why not? You know what’s cooking for dinner and what’s in the fridge. Don’t you want to find out what’s going on in the other heart of your home?
Today on the blog, we’re going to talk about the advantages of plumbing system inspections done Hollywood style. So take a minute and read on.
How does a drain pipe camera work?
Traditionally, if a plumber required to inspect your sewer line or drain, they dug up the whole yard. Okay, that is a little dramatic, but identifying leaks and other issues in the main sewer line required a lot of guesswork and, in the majority of the cases – digging.
Plumbing and modern technology make a great fit. Today, every plumbing team uses video technology to record and see what is going on down below.
Plumbers use a sewer video camera attached to a flexible cable to inspect pipes. Usually, they insert the cable into the main sewer line cleanout of your home. By using a monitor, they watch as the camera goes through the plumbing line.
While a Hollywood quality video isn’t what they get; they do acquire a real-time view of the plumbing system. Thus, they get a visual of the heart of your home in a non-invasive manner.
Talking of non-invasive, that is one of the initial benefits of the drainpipe camera we are discussing today.
No mess to clean up
Homeowners and plumbers love trenchless technology!
Before sewer cameras debuted, the only way a plumber could get a true picture of the sewer lines’ condition was to excavate. In case you’ve ever had a plumbing problem that needed digging, you’re aware of the mess.
Using a camera indicates the plumber just needs a little entry point. They can use various access points to insert a camera directly into the main sewer line.
There is no evidence left behind, and no ugly, long trench for neighbours to complain about. If this sounds overly dramatic to you, just try to dig a trench in your front yard and witness how long it takes for the neighbours to drop by and see what is going on.
By the way, trenchless technology is not reserved for inspections. The true advantage of trenchless technology is the ability to repair pipes without needing to dig. However, that is a subject for another blogpost.
Help to locate hidden leaks
When it comes to helping plumbers locate leaks, plumbing cameras make excellent partners.
You might think searching for a leak is not a big challenge. You follow the water, right?
While certain leaks have definite clues, others, especially those hidden under your home or behind walls, are not difficult to find. A wireless sewer inspection camera can assist your plumber in pinpointing the exact location of a leak. And they can do it swiftly.
Goes without saying, the faster the plumber can detect the leak, the better for you. Untreated and undetected plumbing leaks cost money and inflict severe damage to your home. Plus, plumbing cameras find other hidden issues as well. Looking for an inspection camera hire? Look no further than what Scanprobe has to offer. Give us a call now!
Your basic guide to a pipe inspection system
Did you know that an average household can leak up to 10,000 gallons of water? If you combine all the wasted water in the country, it amounts to 1 trillion gallons. On average, this is how much 11 million homes use on average.
Aside from a lot of water being wasted, can you imagine paying for thousands of wasted gallons you never used?
This is why early detection of leaks is important, and with a pipe inspection system, it’s more than possible. If you want to know how it works and what benefits it offers, read on.
How does a sewer camera work?
In a common setting, sewer lines are sitting under the foundation of your home. The foundation is about 4-5 inches long and is two feet above the sewer lines.
This necessitates the use of a sewer pipe inspection camera when you want to identify an issue with your pipes.
It is a long ‘snake,’ at the end of which a video camera is attached. It is flexible enough to navigate the sewer lines and turn corners with ease.
It offers a monitor aboveground with a live feed of the pipes’ state as the camera goes through them. This enables the technician to see what precisely the problem is and where it is located. As such, it is used for accurate plumbing leak detection.
For future use, the whole sewer camera system can record the video.
Pros of using a sewer camera to detect leaks
Before pipe cameras were invented, homeowners were already experiencing leaks, and plumbers were already fixing them. This means there is a conventional way to identify leaks. Then what makes a sewer camera beneficial?
- It doesn’t require much digging: Traditionally, a lot of projects involved digging the whole backyard to locate a single leak. However, with a camera, you can easily find the leak underground.
- It saves you time: Since there’s no guesswork involved, using a sewer camera is faster in identifying issues as compared to other conventional methods.
- It saves you money: Fixing and locating leaks cost more in the past because of how extensive the processes are. For example, diggings add to the high cost of the plumbing service. However, this cost is eliminated with the use of a sewer camera.
- It makes it easy to locate issues: Camera can allow you to see buildup within the rusting, pipes, and even tree roots. It can also assist you in mapping out your lines, determining the type of system you have, and seeing the connections.
When to use a pipe inspection camera service?
While plumbing leaks are difficult to detect, their symptoms are usually easy to identify. For example, if your water bill suddenly skyrockets, you might be dealing with a leak, especially if your usage has remained the same.
Another sign of a plumbing leak is a change in water pressure. The change can either be intermittent or consistent and can either be in the specific rooms or whole house. Either way, it is a major sign of a leak.
If you weren’t able to rectify a small leak in time or your leaking issue is big, you might deal with damage to the structure of your house. You might notice water stains on your wall, floor, or ceiling. Another indicative sign of a leak is bubbling on the drywall.
If you let the problem go this far, you may require thousands of dollars to solve it. This is also dangerous because it weakens the structure of your house.
Mold and mildew is another symptom and danger of a plumbing leak. It won’t be solved by drenching the house with bleach. As long as there is water leaking, mold will keep coming back.
Plus, keep your ears open because if you hear water flowing even when all the faucets are turned off, the water may be leaking somewhere. Often, you can hear where the flowing is the loudest. Please make a note of that; it will assist the pipe inspection camera crew in knowing where to check first.
Why companies are investing in CCTV pipeline inspection?
You don’t have to be a scientist to get to appreciate the reason that CCTV has become a driving force in the realm of pipeline inspection. Robotics combined with advanced camera tech (like WinCan drain camera) is quite an innovative solution when it comes to inspecting pipelines.
Why CCTV pipeline inspection is trending?
Traditionally, a lot of guesswork was involved when it came to inspecting pipelines. However, with the advent of CCTV, examining pipelines, sewers, and drains is now quicker, affordable, and more accurate without disturbing the infrastructure. The approach offers a lot of benefits and is totally non-destructive. In a large number of industries today, CCTV pipeline inspection become a leading choice for carrying out pipeline inspection.
When pipe issues like corrosion, depreciation, foreign objects blockage, roots invasion, and sediment build-up occur in municipalities, CCTV can be used to conduct sewage and drain lines inspection. This tech can also be used by property developers to determine the status of drains and pipelines before investing in the property. In addition, oil firms can use remotely-operated CCTV cameras by mounting them on robotic crawlers to investigate very important pipelines and see if contamination or damage has occurred so that safety measures can be implemented.
CCTV pipeline inspection utilises easy-to-use software along with various durable instruments that can be used to capture top-quality videos and images. The software is loaded with a ton of features that ensures safety, offer protection for assets, and enhances productivity. All that’s required is a CCTV camera to be a connection with a computer. The camera sends images and data in real-time while storing the information that is collected for reference purposes, and an operator picks all of these. These visual inspection equipment are available in a variety of configurations. Plus, their capabilities are widespread that can match the demands of different environments like mainline sewers, tubes, condensers, turbines, engines, and pipes.
The CCTV pipeline inspection is also preferred due to its cost-effective nature. Some other reasons why people choose this cutting-edge technology are:
- No need for time-consuming excavation.
- It’s easier to proffer solutions and locate problems quickly, which assists in lowering costs while improving productivity.
- Preventive repairs can easily be implemented by using the data transmitted by the camera.
- Minor faults can easily be detected and sorted so that they don’t turn into major problems.
- CCTV pipeline inspection makes the first time identification of problems quite precise; this assists in circumventing all the costs that would’ve incurred as a result of the inaccurate diagnosis.
- The use of technology during the inspection is an absolutely non-destructive approach.
- Precision and speed are definitely a benefit.
- It is easier to pinpoint the exact location where the problem has occurred.
- The system is not difficult to operate and is totally user-friendly.
- A fully-integrated software, when integrated into the inspection process, assists in faster decision-making with the use of readily available real-time results.
- CCTV pipe inspection causes no harm to the environment and is totally environmentally-friendly.
The reasons highlighted above for the extensive use of CCTV in conducting a visual inspection in various industries clearly demonstrate that this cutting-edge technology is here to stay.
Scanprobe is a family run business since 1985, specialising in the manufacture, assembly, and design of CCTV pipeline inspection systems. Get in touch to learn more about our CCTV inspection services, WinCan VX, and WinCan drain camera.
3 tips for renting a CCTV drain camera in England
If you’re experiencing sewer problems, you know the inconvenience that issues like these can cause. Drain failures or clogs can’t just be irritating but can be expensive to fix. Inspecting the internal surface of your plumbing pipes assists you in seeing exactly what type of damage is causing you sewer problems, also allowing you to locate exactly where the damage is to facilitate the repair process.
Here are three tips that you should take into consideration when searching for a drain camera for rent in England to make sure you invest in a diagnostic tool that meets your needs.
Tip 1: Look for a camera that can span the length of your pipes
Before renting a sewer camera from your local hardware store, finding out how long your main drainage pipe is can be quite helpful. This pipe connects the plumbing system of your home to the municipal sewer system.
You can consult the original building plans of your home to find out how long the main drainage pipe is. Then, you can use this information to rent a sewer camera with a feedline that’s long enough to run the length of the pipe. This makes sure that you’ll be able to inspect the whole pipe thoroughly to check for damage that could be contributing to the sewer problems of your home.
Tip 2: Look for a camera that has a self-levelling feature
When you’re using a sewer camera to inspect the interior surface of your plumbing pipes, it can be difficult to determine exactly what you’re looking at. When the images produced by the camera are askew or upside down, it can be almost impossible to identify damaged areas.
By investing in a proper sewer camera, which has the ability to level itself, you can ensure that all the images acquired from this camera are upright. This feature further enables you to inspect your plumbing pipes more easily for serious damage.
Tip 3: Look for a camera with a video-out connection
If you’re finding it difficult to identify whether or not your plumbing pipes have sustained damage, it can be helpful to have a professional plumber evaluate the footage that your sewer camera outputs. When renting a camera with a video-out connection, you can record the images that your camera captures onto a different video device.
This enables you to retain a record of the findings of the camera, and it also allows you to get the expert opinion of a plumber without having to pay for the plumber to conduct a different session with a sewer camera.
If you’re able to rent the right sewer camera, it would significantly assist you in fully leveraging the diagnostic tools. So, look for a camera with self-levelling abilities, a camera that can span the length of your main drain pipe, and a camera with a video-out connection to assist you in identifying sewer damage in the future.
If you’re looking for a CCTV drain camera in England, let Scanprobe know. Plus, we also offer a Mina survey in England. Please explore our website to know more or call us at +44 (0)203 253 2001 to get your queries answered instantly.
Maxprobe is here to stay
The Maxprobe drain camera is an evolving unit that frequently being enhanced. When it was initially launched in 2015, this CCTV inspection system had a relatively standard camera head in comparison to the standard of today. Since January 2017, the camera head has been upgraded to a 44mm self-leveler, with integral Sonde inside the camera that offers traceability underground. The Sonde itself is encapsulated in the main camera body for compact design and product robustness, instead of being potted in bulky connectors or exposed to damage in a spring behind the camera head.
Currently, two frequencies are being offered – 512Hz (which has improved results in cast iron pipes) and 33KHz, a UK standard. To trace this equipment, a C-scope MXL4 is recommended as these offer the best results.
Now, a Controller Area Network BUS system is being tested, which will control many inspection and operational functions, permitting Scanprobe to explore 3D pipe mapping and scanning via, for instance, pipeline probe rods. Scanprobe is also invested in coming up with its own software with the release of mina Survey, as it has realised that premium drainage organisations are moving more into software technology when conducting an inspection survey, and are now demanding a technology level that the industry is yet to see. mina Survey has led Scanprobe into the realms of mobile app technology, in a development that links the Maxprobe camera system with a mobile device, a first for the company and drain camera manufacturers in general.
Other software enterprises like WinCan provide surveying packages that may include every type of mapping and tracking information. With the introduction of WiFi into the Maxprobe box, every survey may be carried out on-site and sent directly to the office or client via WinCan web. Scanprobe was the one to pioneer the first camera inspection system to include WinCan web and is now enjoying brilliant reviews on this cutting-edge technology. However, Scanprobe feels that this is just the beginning. It sees the future of surveying, where every pipe will be laid out on a map in 3D with every information (length, material, and size) tagged next to every run, offering water authorities a detailed layout of their waste systems. Once the information has been collected from around the country, a national waste grid system may be established. This is some way off, but the objective of Scanprobe is to offer the tools in which this may be accomplished.
Scanprobe is continuously offering the needs of its customers, and the future of Maxprobe looks awesome. Scanprobe will be pushing the boundaries of tracing, inspection, mapping software coupled with durability and reliability over the coming years, so watch this space.