For years we have been taught there are two ways to clean a line. The first method is step cleaning which is running a nozzle in increments through the line to clean a portion of the line at a time. The issue with this method is that you end up cleaning the same areas of the line multiple times. For example if you are trying to clean a 350 foot line, you end up doing 1,400 feet of work. This will result in wasting man power, time, and resources.
The second way we are traditionally taught to clean a line is the run the nozzle all the way through the line and work your way backward. This is also time consuming and will also result in wasting man power and water. The best way I have learned to prevent blowing toilets is two fold. First by running your nozzle slowly around 35-55 feet per minute depending upon the amount of debris in the line. If you’re moving at 60 feet per minute that is one foot per second and at that speed you are wetting pipe, not cleaning it. The second tip is to run the nozzle through the line upstream to downstream, and make sure that the upstream manhole is open allowing air to be drawn through the line.
Blowing toilets unfortunately happens on a daily basis which creates multiple and unique problems for each municipality, such as SSO’s. The standard operating solution for this problem does not work. The best way to prevent this from occurring is changing the way you clean pipes. I cannot stress this importance of this concept enough. If you do not open the upstream manhole, a vacuum is created in the line which will result in toilets blowing, sewer gas being released into homes, and sucking pee traps dry. The key to preventing this is allowing air to move freely within the line.
Another added benefit to cleaning a line in this manner is that you save time, resources, and man power. You will not have to worry about going back through the line to clean or clear any debris twice. Taking this advice to heart could save you and your crew many hours of unnecessary work and prevent homeowners from getting upset with the city over something that is easily preventable. Working smart is working hard!
