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A CCTV drain survey is a great way to identify and diagnose problems with your property’s drainage system. Drainage problems can be extremely disruptive and very damaging to your home or commercial building, so you’ll be eager to get them sorted as soon as possible. If you’re facing an issue with your drainage system, a CCTV drain survey will help you get to the root of the problem and begin the repair process promptly. Your home or business will be running smoothly again in no time.
We know it can be stressful when something goes wrong on your property. Aqua Rod (South West) Ltd are here to take some of the weight off your shoulders. To give you one less thing to worry about when a crisis strikes, here’s our guide to the benefits of CCTV drain surveys.
A CCTV drain survey involves manually or mechanically feeding a high-definition camera through your drainage system, usually from outside your property, in order to locate, identify, and diagnose drainage problems. The camera is fixed to the end of a sturdy but flexible wire, meaning it can reach places that are otherwise very difficult to access.
The camera provides live pictures of the inside of your drainage system, measuring the distance travelled as it goes. The lighting equipment and CCTV equipment required to generate high-quality images will vary depending on the size of the drain. If any issues are found, the camera will capture an image of it and record its precise location within the drainage system. This allows the team carrying out the survey to pinpoint the exact location where repairs are needed quickly and easily.
While CCTV drain surveys are often employed when a drainage problem has already occurred, they can be used for routine checks as well – for example, to ensure that your pipes and drains are in good working order before a storm hits. Routine CCTV drain surveys – rather than ones carried out when something’s already gone wrong – can flag up small issues before they become serious and therefore save you time, money, and energy further down the line.
Being able to use CCTV drain surveys as a preventative measure is a benefit in itself – avoiding major drainage problems and the damage they cause altogether is always a plus. This is not their only benefit by any means; there are many more reasons why CCTV drain surveys are the way to go when it comes to routine and emergency drainage system maintenance. Keep reading to find out what they are.
It’s only when faced with a drainage issue that you realise how crucial a working drain is! So, when something goes wrong, it’s natural that you’ll want to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.
A CCTV survey can speed up the whole process, as it avoids disruptive and time-consuming solutions such as digging and dismantling pipework. Instead, the images captured by the CCTV camera are in real-time and are immediately available, so the team carrying out the survey can instantly see what the problem is on the monitor.
Not only that, but the CCTV equipment used measures the distance the camera has travelled through the pipe network and records the exact location of any defects. This means that the contractors can pinpoint precisely where the problem is and, therefore, avoid carrying out aimless and unnecessary maintenance. Being able to go straight to work on the correct location saves time, energy, and money for all parties.
In a similar vein, the fact that the contractor or engineer can see exactly what the problem is straight away, it is far more likely that the diagnosis will be accurate and that the location will be correct. This allows them to devise the most efficient and effective solution to the problem at hand, rather than making guesses and assumptions based on limited information.
For instance, while traditional diagnostic methods may be able to determine that the issue is a blocked pipe, a CCTV survey will be able to reveal whether the blockage is caused by tree root invasion or fat build-up. Though the general issue is the same, the solution can vary depending on the cause. In being able to garner this level of detail, the contractor would then be able to choose the best solution for that specific problem.
Most of your property’s maintenance needs will probably end up being costly, particularly if they involve emergency callouts or occur during unsociable hours. These steep expenses will keep on going up if you have to repeatedly call out contractors because the problem wasn’t identified or resolved correctly the first time around, or if they have to try multiple solutions before finding the correct one.
The precision and accuracy of CCTV drain surveys make them a much more cost effective solution, as it takes far less time to find and resolve problems and they are almost always sorted on the first try. Also, the consistent accuracy of CCTV surveys and the relative simplicity of the process means that any quotes you receive from contractors are likely to be correct, so you won’t be faced with hidden costs after the fact.
Getting a CCTV drain survey as part of your property’s routine maintenance can also save you money, as it could identify small problems early on before they get the chance to develop into more serious and more damaging problems, which will end up costing more long term.
The alternative diagnostic method to CCTV drain surveys involves large excavations and dismantling of pipework. Both of these will cause massive disruption to your home life or the running of your business, with repercussions like limited access, noise, large equipment taking up space, and possibly no water supply. This disruption could last for days, at least.
In contrast, CCTV drain surveys themselves only take up a little space – at the drain entrance, which is usually outside the property – and require no large, disruptive equipment or excavation. Their precise nature also means that the repairs will only need to be carried out on the specific part of the drainage system where an issue has been identified, rather than on the whole drainage system.
A CCTV drain survey itself usually takes no longer than an hour or so, and the process’ speedy nature means that, even if there was a small amount of disruption when carrying out maintenance, it would certainly last a far shorter time than with traditional diagnostic methods.
When moving to a new property, CCTV drain surveys are a great way to protect your investment and save yourself the hassle and costs of running into drainage problems further down the line. CCTV surveys can be used to carry out an assessment pre-purchase, so you know exactly where the new property’s drains are and what condition they’re in.
Your contractor will always generate a written report following a CCTV survey. This report outlines the condition of your drains and includes a lot of drainage data. While this might sound scary, many companies make their reports simple and accessible using traffic light ratings, number coded systems, visual illustrations, labelled diagrams and photos, easy language, and charts or tables.
These reports are often valid for up to five years and are also widely accepted by relevant third parties, so they aren’t only useful for finding out the condition of your pipes or resolving a specific problem. They can be given to mortgage lenders, home insurance companies, estate agents, solicitors, and building contractors.
As previously mentioned, traditional diagnostic methods for drainage problems usually entail large excavation projects. These often involve loud, fuel-powered equipment, which produce CO2, noise pollution, and land disturbances which impact plants and wildlife. CCTV drain surveys remove all of these environmental considerations, or certainly reduce them, and therefore provide a far more eco-friendly solution to diagnosing drainage problems.
Most reputable local drain companies will offer commercial and domestic CCTV drain surveys. For those in need of a reliable drain expert in Cornwall and Devon, look no further than Aqua Rod (South West) Ltd. We are a family-run business that operates across the South West, providing a range of services including CCTV surveys, high-pressure water jetting, drain clearance, septic tank emptying, pump station cleaning maintenance and installations, and much more.
Our professional and highly qualified team will gladly help you get to the bottom of your drainage problem, no matter what it is. In order to find out more about our services, please feel free to visit our website or contact us today – we’d be delighted to help with any enquiries you may have.
Published by: David Parkes on: December 2nd 2021
