CALL 08000 654 111Nature can cause significant drainage damage, and this can have serious long-term consequences if not dealt with. One of the biggest causes of blockages to sewage pipes and drainage networks are tree roots. Along with blocked and leaking drains, tree roots can also lead to building subsidence.
What Attracts Trees to Drains
It doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven, but the moisture that comes from condensation on drainpipes, or from leaking pipe joints, attracts tree roots, which naturally seek out moisture. When there have been excavations nearby, usually for building purposes or for laying pipework, then it is likely to be easier for tree roots to burrow down into the ground, towards pipes. These roots can end up following the trenches originally cut into the ground for laying pipes.
Once they’ve burrowed further down into the ground, tree roots may then enter the drainage system through joints in pipework, or through fractured or cracked pipes.
One consequence of tree roots can be displaced or damaged pipe joints. Drainage networks typically use clay pipes with joints comprising sand and cement and when tree roots get into these networks they reduce the effectiveness of the network by narrowing the diameter of the pipes or causing leaks from them.
If a leaking drainage network goes untreated, it can ultimately lead to erosion of the surrounding ground and, ultimately, building subsidence, posing a threat of longstanding damage to structures and buildings.
Detecting the Threat from Tree Roots
A CCTV drain survey is a key way of discovering whether tree roots are damaging the drainage network. For properties with trees within their boundary, or even if they are close by to trees, a drain survey can indicate whether there is damage, or the threat of damage.
Here, a CCTV drain survey may be a vital step towards taking preventative measures, or for diagnosing problems, to then remedy them.
It’s also a cost effective means of finding answers without causing major disruption through exploratory excavations.
For many home and business owners, a CCTV drain survey provides a way of ensuring that the future of their property will be trouble-free, safeguarding it against risks arising from damage to drains from tree roots.
Contact Drainage Consultants today and find out how we can give you peace of mind about your drainage network and, if there is a problem, get to the root of it.