So, you need to dig up your sewer line but have no idea where to find it. Don’t worry! Instead of destroying your backyard, there are many simple ways to locate your central drainpipe without any hassle. Here are 4 ways to help you find your sewer line!
Contact a Plumber
Professional plumbers can do more than just unclog or fix broken drains. They are trained to use modern technology to find, locate, and analyze damage taking place in your sewer lines without having to dig them up.
Many plumbing companies have small, flushable, and biodegradable cameras that track the location of your sewer drain all the way to the city in a matter of minutes. There is also radar technology available that can be placed into a shallow part of the ground to detect the exact location of your sewer line.
Contact City Hall
If you’re not interested in calling a plumber right away, you can always call your local city hall building to ask for a map of your property that details the location of your sewer lines. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell just how long this step could take, but they should have a sewer department that keeps track of where and how deep every sewer line is in your city.
Use Welding Rods
You might be wondering, “Welding rods? What does that have to do with my sewer line?” Well, it has been proven that if you take two metal welding rods and bend them to create a 90 degree “L” shape, you can use them to locate your sewer lines.
By holding the two rods at one end, making sure one end is pointing towards you, the metal rods will start to cross each other into an “X” shape once you have walked directly over your sewer lines. Of course, this is an ancient technique and can be susceptible to a fault, but it may be worth a try!
Call the Previous Owners of Your Home
If you have built your home, then you can skip this step and try all the ones prior! For those who have purchased their home from previous buyers, try contacting them to ask if they know where the sewer line is on your property. Chances are if they had lived there long enough, they have replaced them or dug them up at some point in the past.
If you have no way of contacting the previous owners, try asking your neighbors to see if they have any clue where the lines are located.
