Drain Jet Blasting Wollongong

Jet blasting in Wollongong: when it's the right tool

Jet blasting isn't the answer to every blocked drain, and a good plumber will tell you when it isn't. Jobs we've completed around Bulli, Thirroul, Wollongong and Albion Park include jet blasting, and camera inspections of drains feature in those areas as well. The two work as a pair: the camera shows what is in the pipe and what shape the pipe is in, and the jetter clears it.

Jet blasting vs drain snake: an honest comparison

Both tools clear drains. They suit different problems, and neither one is a repair.

• How each works. A drain snake, sometimes called an electric eel, feeds a spinning steel cable into the pipe to bore through the blockage. A jetter feeds in a flexible hose carrying water at high pressure, with rear-facing jets that pull the hose forward and scrub the pipe wall on the way.
• What each suits. A snake handles a single solid plug near an access point, such as a hair clog or an object that shouldn't be there. A jetter suits build-up along a run of pipe: grease, soap scum, sand, silt and fine root growth.
• What each leaves behind. A snake punches a channel through the blockage, so residue on the pipe walls can stay put. A jetter washes that residue out of the line, which usually gives you longer before the next blockage.
• Where to be careful. A snake can catch on a broken joint. High-pressure water can shift loose pieces of a pipe that is already cracked or partly collapsed. On a line like that, the camera goes in first.
• What neither does. Neither tool fixes a crushed, cracked or root-damaged pipe. They get water moving again; a repair removes the cause.

What a jet blasting job involves

We find the most practical access point, usually an inspection opening or the gully outside. If the drain has a history of blockages, we may run a CCTV drain inspection first, so we know the pipe can take the pressure and where the trouble starts.

We then pick a nozzle to suit the job. Cutting heads deal with root growth, while flushing nozzles move silt and grease towards the outlet. Afterwards we run water through the line to check it drains properly, and a second camera pass can confirm the pipe walls are clean.

For more detail on which method suits common household blockages, read our guide to jet blasting vs a drain snake.

Licensed work in NSW

In NSW, flushing or cleansing a sanitary drain that connects to the sewer counts as draining work, and NSW requires a licence or certificate for draining work whatever the job costs. That is worth knowing before anyone without a licence works on your sewer line.

Jet blasting isn't only for sewer lines. Stormwater pipes carrying rain from roofs and paving collect leaf litter, sand and silt, and blasting flushes them out to the outlet; see our stormwater drainage service for more.