Sewer line leak detection in Tucson, AZ

Signs of a leaking or broken sewer line

• Sewer odor in the yard, in a bathroom, or throughout the house, strongest in still, warm weather.
• Several drains slow at once, or the lowest fixture in the house backing up when another is used.
• Toilets that gurgle when a sink, tub, or washing machine drains.
• A strip of unusually green, fast-growing plants, or soft, sunken ground, along the line between the house and the street or alley.
• More cockroaches or rodents than usual. A break in the pipe gives them a way in and out.
• New cracks in floor tile, or a section of slab that has settled, near a bathroom or kitchen.
• Damp or stained flooring near a ground-floor bathroom with no supply leak found.
• Repeated clogs that return a few weeks after each drain cleaning.

One thing a sewer leak won't do is move the water meter. If the meter is turning with everything off, the problem is on the supply side.

What causes sewer line leaks

Sewer pipe fails by material. Cast iron, used under and around older homes, rusts from the inside until the bottom of the pipe wears through. Clay pipe is laid in short sections, and the joints between them open up and let roots in.

Fiber pipe, sold as Orangeburg and used in the mid twentieth century, flattens and blisters with age. Plastic pipe, both black ABS and white PVC, holds up well but separates at glued joints or cracks where the ground beneath it has settled and left it unsupported.

Roots, soil movement, heavy vehicles over a shallow line, and poor bedding when the pipe was first laid account for most of the rest.

How sewer line leak detection works

Sewer pipe carries no pressure, so a leak makes no noise to listen for. We find it by testing the line and looking inside it.

1. Find the access. The line is entered through a cleanout, usually a capped pipe near the house or at the property line. If there's none, access is through a roof vent or by lifting a toilet.
2. Static water test. The line is blocked downstream with an inflatable test ball and filled with water to floor level. If the water level drops, the system leaks. If it holds, it doesn't. This is the test that proves a leak under a slab.
3. Camera inspection. A camera is pushed through the line and records the inside of the pipe: cracks, open joints, roots, sags that hold water, and collapsed sections.
4. Isolation testing. If the system fails the static test, sections are blocked off one at a time and retested to find which branch is losing water: the main run, a bathroom group, the kitchen line.
5. Locate from the surface. The camera head carries a transmitter. With a receiver above ground, the position and depth of the camera are found and the spot is marked on the floor or in the yard.
6. Report. You're told where the defects are, how deep, what the pipe is made of, and whether the damage is one spot or runs along the line.

A camera on its own shows damage but can't always show whether a crack leaks. A water test on its own shows a leak but not where.

Used together they give a reliable answer. If the line is fully blocked, it has to be cleared by a drain cleaning company before the camera can pass.

Tree roots and sewer line responsibility in Tucson and Pima County

2 local facts matter to anyone with a sewer problem here.

Roots go where the water is. In a dry climate, a sewer line is one of the few constant sources of moisture in the ground. Mesquite, palo verde, eucalyptus, and other trees common in Tucson yards send roots toward any joint that seeps.

Once inside, the roots grow, catch paper and grease, and force the joint wider. In the older central neighborhoods, where clay and cast iron pipe are still in service under mature trees, this is the usual story behind a line that clogs every few months.

The pipe to the public sewer is yours. In Pima County, the house connection sewer, which is the private pipe from the building to the public sewer main, is owned by the property owner. The owner is responsible for cleaning, repairing, and replacing it.

County guidance describes that responsibility as extending up to and including the connection to the public pipe, which can mean the damaged section is under the street or alley. The county ordinance does allow an owner to ask the wastewater department about repair of a damaged section within the public right-of-way. If your break is near the street, call Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation and ask how that applies to your address.

For you as an owner, this makes the exact location of the defect important. Whether it's under your slab, in your yard, or beyond the property line changes who does the work, what permits are involved, and what it costs. Locating it precisely is the first step.

Some properties on the edges of the Tucson area are on septic systems instead of public sewer. The pipe from the house to the tank can be tested and inspected the same way.

What affects the cost of sewer line leak detection

• Cleanout access. A usable cleanout makes the job quick. No cleanout means working from the roof or removing a toilet.
• Length and depth of the line. A long run to a main in the street or alley takes longer to inspect and locate.
• Number of branches under the slab. Each bathroom and the kitchen may need to be isolated separately.
• Blockages. Roots or a collapse that stops the camera limit what can be seen until the line is cleared.
• Pipe condition. Heavy scale in old cast iron hides cracks and slows the camera.
• What is over the line. Marking through a driveway, patio, or addition takes more care than marking in open ground.

When a sewer line leak is an emergency

Sewage backing up into a tub, shower, or floor drain is an emergency. Stop using water in the house straight away: no flushing, no laundry, no dishwasher.

Everything sent down a drain will come up at the lowest opening. Keep children and pets away from the affected area, since sewage carries bacteria.

Sewage surfacing in the yard, or ground that has sunk or opened over the line, also needs prompt attention. A backup usually needs a drain cleaning company first to restore flow. Detection comes next, to find out why it happened and where the line is damaged.

Odor alone, or slow drains, can wait for a scheduled visit. A leaking sewer under a slab washes soil away over time, so have it checked within weeks.

How to prepare for a sewer line inspection

• Find the cleanout if you can. Look for a capped pipe, 3 or 4 inches across, near an outside wall in line with a bathroom, or close to the property line.
• Avoid heavy water use for an hour or 2 before the visit.
• Tell us about past drain cleaning: how often, and what was pulled out.
• Note which fixtures are slow or back up, and in what order.
• Clear access to the cleanout and to bathrooms.

Leak Detective tests and locates. We don't repair sewer lines. Depending on what is found, a plumber may repair one spot, replace a section, or line or replace the whole run.

Ask for a camera inspection after the repair to confirm the result. Problems in the smaller drain pipes inside the house are covered under drain leak detection.

Sewer testing sits alongside the supply-side work that makes up most of our leak detection services in Tucson. When a home has damp floors or a settling slab and the water meter is perfectly still, the sewer is the next place to look.