Glendale's Water Services Department runs the city's wastewater collection and treatment, but the sewer pipe on your lot is a private plumbing line. A camera inspection films that pipe from the inside so you can see whether roots, cracks, a sag or buildup is behind repeated clogs. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Glendale.
My Glendale house is from the 1980s. What will the camera likely find?
City-data figures put the median Glendale home at about 1985, so many drain lines here are around 40 years old. Depending on the neighborhood and builder, that can mean cast iron, clay or early plastic. Each ages differently, and the footage usually makes the material obvious:
- Cast iron that has scaled or corroded inside, narrowing the pipe and snagging paper
- Clay with joints that have opened enough for roots to slip in
- Plastic that sagged where the soil beneath it settled
- Offset joints where one section has shifted against the next
Homes near downtown Glendale and other older areas are the most likely to show the first two. Houses farther north along the Loop 101 tend to have plastic.
How do I know the problem is the main line and not one drain?
Watch the pattern. A slow bathroom sink on its own is almost always a local clog. When the tub fills as a toilet flushes, toilets gurgle during a washer drain, or every fixture slows at once, the shared building sewer is involved, and a camera is the clearest way to see why.
Who handles a problem the camera finds?
The pipe from your house to the public main is generally the owner's to repair. If the footage shows the blockage is out in the city's line, Glendale Water Services is the one to contact. For repairs on your side, the city's Building Safety permit guidance says replacing drain or waste piping requires a permit, which the plumber doing the work normally pulls through the Development Services counter.
One Glendale note
Some downtown Glendale lots receive non-potable Salt River Project water through urban irrigation. Regularly irrigated yards tend to support bigger trees and shrubs than dry desert landscaping, and those roots will search out any small gap in an aging sewer joint. If your lot is irrigated this way and clogs keep coming back after each cleaning, mention it when you call so the plumber pays close attention to the joints nearest your trees. The video will show whether roots are the reason.
Sewer Camera Inspection questions in Glendale
Do I need a permit for a camera inspection?
Will roots from trees in my yard show up on camera?
Why does my main drain keep clogging after it's been cleared?
Is a sewer camera inspection worth it before buying a home here?
More plumbing services in Glendale
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