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CCTV Drainage Surveys: Everything You Need to Know & More

What is a Drainage Survey?

A CCTV drainage survey is a technique used to inspect and assess the state of your drainage system by making use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) technology. It involves inserting a small, remote-controlled camera into your home’s drainage pipes to capture live video footage and images of the interior. These cameras are specially designed to navigate through the pipes, allowing for a detailed examination of the entire drainage network. This includes underground pipes and hard-to-reach areas. 

The real-time visual information captured by the CCTV footage offers valuable insights into the condition of your drains. This survey technique is instrumental in identifying potential issues before they become major problems, enabling prompt repairs or maintenance. By accurately pinpointing the location and nature of the issue, a CCTV survey of drains enables efficient and cost-effective solutions to be implemented, which minimises disruptions and ensures that your drainage system works smoothly.

Why Should You Book a CCTV Drainage Survey Before Winter?

A CCTV drainage survey in London with a drain camera can be done throughout the year by drainage surveyors, but it is best to have this done well before winter begins. Drainage issues are more common in winter due to colder temperatures, heavy rain and snow. 

During the winter months in the UK, homeowners may encounter these common plumbing issues. These can include:

1. Frozen Pipes: Cold weather can cause water inside pipes to freeze, leading to burst pipes and potential water damage to your property. Therefore, it is essential to check the internal structure of your pipes and insulate them properly.
2. Burst Pipes: When frozen pipes thaw, the pressure from expanding ice can cause your pipes to burst, especially if they are old and corroded, resulting in significant leaks and even structural damage to your home.
3. Clogged Drains: With more indoor activities during the winter, drains can become clogged with debris, grease, and hair, leading to slow drainage or complete blockages. With cold temperatures outside, these blockages can freeze, leading to stubborn blocked drains and can even cause sewage to back up into your home. Regular maintenance and avoiding the disposal of inappropriate materials can help prevent clogs.
4. Low Water Pressure: Cold temperatures can cause a decrease in water pressure due to factors like frozen pipes or excessive demand on the water supply.
5. Leaking Taps: Extreme cold can cause pipes and fixtures to crack, resulting in leaking taps and wasted water. Checking the structural integrity of your pipes with a CCTV drainage survey, insulating pipes and repairing damaged pipes before winter can help alleviate this issue.
6. Boiler Issues: Cold weather can put extra strain on boilers, leading to issues such as pilot light problems, reduced hot water supply, or complete system failure.
7. Backed-Up Sewer Systems: Heavy rainfall combined with frozen ground can lead to sewer backups and overflows, causing health hazards and property damage. A CCTV survey can give you peace of mind your sewers are running smoothly, and drain lining can help repair any damage before they become a hazard.
8. Water Line Damage: Freezing temperatures can cause the ground to shift, potentially damaging water lines and causing leaks. Regular inspection of water lines with a CCTV drainage survey will allow for swift repairs that can help prevent extensive damage.

Having a CCTV drain investigation conducted before winter can help prevent these issues from becoming more serious. The survey will reveal any potential hazards, enabling you to take preventive action and make necessary repairs or maintenance before the onset of winter. This will ensure that your drainage system is working in optimal condition during the coldest months of the year. A CCTV survey can be a valuable investment for any property owner, helping you to avoid costly repair bills.

What Issues Can a CCTV Drain Survey Detect?

If you experience issues such as bad smells coming from your drains, toilets that won’t flush properly, water that won’t drain away properly from drains, or even gurgling noises from your drainage pipes, then it is likely you have a drainage issue and need to call an experienced plumber immediately. CCTV drainage survey equipment allows expert plumbers like those at Absolute Plumbing Ltd to identify these nine common drain problems and more:

1. Scale build-up

Scale build-up is mostly caused by minerals present in water. When these are combined with things such as debris or waste, this can lead to significant build-up on the walls of your pipes, obstructing the flow of water and causing blockages.

2. Corrosion

Various factors cause corrosion, including hard water, chemical drain cleaners and oxidation. All of these factors cause significant damage to your pipeline, which weakens them, causing pipes to crack, leak or even burst.

3. A CCTV Drainage Survey Can Identify Blockages

Drains can become blocked by things such as foreign objects, tree roots, soap scum, hair, fats, oil and grease (FOG), food particles and plant matter. Using a CCTV drains survey allows plumbers to see what is causing the blockage so they can use the correct specialised drain cleaning equipment to resolve the issue.

4. Wear and tear

Drainage pipes get worn down over the years due to normal wear and tear, and this weakens the pipe walls. Making the pipe more likely to leak or burst.

5. Cracked or collapsed drains

Cracked or collapsed drains can be caused by things such as clogs, pipe erosion, tree roots, cold temperatures and heavy rain. Without identifying these issues with a CCTV drainage survey, they can lead to extensive flooding and property damage

6. A CCTV drainage survey can find displaced joints

These can be a result of ground movement, such as when subsoils are washed away in heavy rain or if the ground shifts due to freezing temperatures.

7. Tree root intrusions

The roots of trees can penetrate pipes in search of a plentiful water supply causing significant blockages, cracks and breaks.

8. Leaks

Leaks can be caused by various factors such as the age of pipes, tree roots infiltrating them, cold weather and corrosion. Undiscovered leaks can cause health issues due to mould growth, property damage and excessively high water bills.

9. Poorly installed or misaligned pipes

If pipes haven’t been installed incorrectly or the pipes aren’t aligned, it can cause them to leak, crack or clog.

By conducting a CCTV drainage survey, plumbers can gain a clear understanding of the drain’s condition, identify potential problems, and make informed decisions regarding necessary repairs or maintenance. The survey helps prevent blockages, mitigate risks and maintain the optimal functioning of your home’s drainage system.

How Does a CCTV Drainage Survey Work?

CCTV drain surveys use state-of-the-art technology to thoroughly evaluate the state of your drainage systems with precision and efficacy. Our ​​CCTV drainage survey team will insert a compact, waterproof drain camera into the drain via an access point such as a manhole or an inspection chamber. The camera is connected to a flexible cable that helps our plumbers navigate it through your home’s pipeline. As the camera travels through your drains, it captures high-resolution video footage and images of the interior, which are instantly transmitted to a monitor for real-time monitoring and analysis.

During the CCTV drainage surveys, a trained drainage surveyor controls the camera remotely, adjusting its position and direction as needed. This allows for a comprehensive inspection of the entire drainage network, including bends, junctions, and hard-to-reach areas. The camera is equipped with powerful lights to ensure clear visibility.

The footage obtained from the CCTV survey provides valuable insights into the condition of your home’s drains. It helps our plumbers identify various issues that may be present without the need to dig up your pipes and inspect them manually. By visually assessing the state of the drains, our plumbing professionals can accurately determine the extent and location of any problems present.

Once the ​​CCTV drainage survey is complete, our plumbers will review and analyse the recorded footage. We will then use specialised software to assess the severity of issues and generate a detailed report. This report provides you with a comprehensive overview of the drain’s condition, highlighting the need for any urgent repairs or maintenance.

In summary, a drain survey provides a reliable and non-disruptive approach to assessing the health of your drainage system. It enables early identification of problems, allowing for timely interventions and cost-effective solutions to maintain the optimal functioning of your drains.

5 Benefits of a ​​CCTV Drainage Survey with a Drain Camera

1. A CCTV Drainage Survey is Cost Effective

This type of drain inspection tends to be cost-effective, as it is possible to detect issues before they become larger and more expensive problems. There is also less chance of incorrect or unnecessary repairs, as the surveyor will be able to identify the problem accurately.

2. With A ​​CCTV Drainage Survey, You Get Fast & Accurate Results

A drain survey makes it possible to do any repairs needed efficiently and quickly, as the plumbers are able to see exactly what is causing the problem and where it is on the drain camera footage.

3. You Can Expect Minimal Disruption With a ​​CCTV Drainage Survey

There is no need to dig up any ground around the piping to perform a CCTV drainage inspection, which means that this method causes very little disruption to your home and property.

4. A ​​CCTV Drainage Survey Provides Peace of Mind

Having a drain survey done will leave you assured that there are no problems lurking within your pipes and can help prevent extensive and costly repairs.

5. Helps You Make Informed Decisions & Comply with Regulations

It is also a good idea to do a drain survey before you purchase a home or an office building. A drainage CCTV survey could save you a lot of money in the future as you will be able to know of any potential issues before making a purchase. If you are planning on extending your property, you may also need to do a drain CCTV survey of all drains within 3m of the extension you are planning. 

How Long Does a CCTV Drainage Survey Take?

How long a drainage survey can take depends on the size and complexity of the drainage system. Simple CCTV drain surveys could take between 30 minutes to an hour, but a larger system or more intricate drainage could take several hours.

How Much Does a CCTV Drain Survey Cost?

The price of a survey depends on the complexity and size of your drain system as well as the location and the exact services that will be needed. A basic survey could cost anything between £100 and £250. An extensive survey that would require a more detailed report or repairs could cost upwards of £500. 

Why Choose Absolute Plumbing Ltd for Your CCTV Drainage Survey?

CCTV drainage surveys are a reliable and efficient way to discover if you have any issues with your drains and offer you the opportunity to repair them before they become bigger, more expensive problems. It is essential that they are conducted by a professional, experienced plumbing team to ensure accuracy and timely repairs.

Absolute Plumbing Ltd has over 10 years of experience providing CCTV drainage surveys and plumbing services. Our competent and professional team would be delighted to assist you, and we promise to deliver exceptional plumbing services with a smile each and every time. Now there is no need to continue searching ‘CCTV drainage survey near me’ or ‘drain survey near me’ on Google; simply contact Absolute Plumbing Ltd by calling 073 4154 7739 or sending a query via our website to book a CCTV drainage survey for your home or business.