You may have seen the large combination sewer cleaner (pictured above) in your neighborhood recently. This sewer cleaner is used for the removal of roots that infiltrate district owned sewer mains. Root cutting is an important preventative maintenance activity performed routinely by district operators. While root cutting is scheduled each month, most of the root cutting activities take place beginning in October and continue through the end of March each year.
Roots intrude district sewer mains as well as customer service connections. If not removed on a scheduled interval, the growth can inhibit sewage flow and cause a sewer back-up either in district sewer mains or in customer owned service lines.
A closed-circuit camera inspects the sewer main to locate where roots are growing into the pipe. Using high water pressure, a hydraulic root cutter pushes through the pipe cutting and ripping the intruding roots out of the sewer main. A follow-up video inspection is performed confirming all roots were adequately removed. If roots are observed growing into the sewer main from a customer’s service connection, a picture is taken and sent to the address alerting the customer of a potential problem.
Root intrusion is more common in older neighborhoods where vegetation is well established with a complex root system, though roots have been discovered in newer neighborhoods where trees have been planted over or adjacent to sewer mains and services.