What is a CCTV Drain Survey
When you hear the phrase CCTV you don’t usually think of there being such a thing for drains. CCTV is usually reserved for shops and places in cities where crime is prevalent. However, with some state of the art technology, there is now a way to get CCTV for your drains – not to monitor crime, but to survey the insides of your pipes and sewers to ensure that they are stable, clean and operating properly.
What is it and how is it done?
Using a range of expert and specialised equipment, a team of professionals can spot any problems and faults in your drains. They do so by sending small, purpose built cameras down into you drains and they are attached to flexible and waterproof circuitry slender enough to allow the camera to get deep down into your drains. With a small light they illuminate the areas in your drains that you would never be able to see, the pictures are fed back to monitors where the images are carefully observed for faults such as cracked or collapsed pipes and for blockages that could be the source of the trouble.
When do you need a survey?
Technically you can have CCTV drain surveys whenever you like, but there are two main reasons people seek out the help of professionals when it comes to drains. The first reason is related to purchasing a property; when you plan on buying any house you will have to get it surveyed overall to ensure there are no problems. While this will allow the surveyor to have a peek at the manholes on the property, it won’t allow them to really get inside the drains to check for faults and collapses. A professional CCTV drain survey company can be brought in to send cameras down the drains and find out if there are any underlying problems or risks for the people purchasing the house; the last thing you want is to move in only to find the drains aren’t working properly.
The second purpose of drain surveys is for homeowners and business owners to find out whether their drains are blocked or damaged. This will be the result of either slow draining water from the home or worse: sewage backing up into the home. When there are any indications of problems with water and drainage it’s best to call in the experts, they can use camera equipment to locate blockages and take the right kind of action to put things back in order.
What are the benefits?
If you’re worried about your drains or you simply want to find out that the property you’re purchasing is in good working condition, then a CCTV survey is ideal. You get the peace of mind knowing that if there is a fault it can be found, as with this specialist technology a team of drainage experts will be able to locate any problem and make recommendations on how to proceed. For example, if there is a large build-up it may highlight scale deposits which can then be removed by combined methods of high pressure water jetting and electro-mechanical chain flail. Similarly, if you need drain excavation to repair any damage in your drains, this can be recommended once the evidence of damage has been found.
You’ll get a full report on the findings of the CCTV survey, and professional advice can be given if there are any problems diagnosed in your drains. From here you can move forward with confidence to solve any problems found.