What is the Difference Between Power Rodding or Hydro Jetting
Today, professional drain cleaning and maintenance usually means power rodding or hydro jetting. Plumbing techniques and technology have advanced to methods that are more effective and easier on your pipes. It’s a recognition that simply punching a hole in an obstruction causing a clog with a snake or other instrument is frequently a temporary expedient. As long as conditions inside the pipe that reduce free flow of waste water persist—usually the accumulation of sludge or other residue—the drain is prone to clog again.
Power rodding or hydro jetting are the latest implements in a professional plumber’s arsenal to clear clogs as well as the conditions that make them likely to recur. Here’s how each of these advancements gets the job done in very different ways.
- Power rodding is a higher-tech, more effective version of the basic drain snake. The system employs a thin metal cable that is highly flexible and doesn’t over-stress delicate plumbing as it is threaded into the pipe. At the end of the cable, a cleaning head incorporates extremely sharp cutting teeth that are specifically sized to the diameter of the pipe. An external electric motor rotating the cable spins the cleaning head and teeth at a high rate of speed. The cutting action destroys the immediate clog, but the action of the high-speed blades also scrapes the pipe walls free of sludge accumulation that reduces water flow and promotes clogs. Power rodding can also be used to remove tree roots that have infiltrated an outdoor sewer line.
- Hydro jetting utilizes the power of hot, high-pressure water to clear obstructions and clean the pipe. A cleaning head attached to a water line is threaded into the pipe. The head features apertures that emit high-pressure jets of hot water at up to 4,500 p.s.i. injected into the line by an external pump. The force of the water obliterates the clog and flushes it away without damaging the pipe. The pressurized, heated water also dissolves sludge and grease that trigger clogs.
For more information on power rodding or hydro jetting, contact the pros at Apollo Home Heating, Cooling and Plumbing.