Tempe's Water Utilities Division provides water, wastewater and stormwater service, but the sewer pipe on your property is private plumbing that a homeowner arranges to have inspected and repaired. A camera inspection records the inside of that pipe so roots, corrosion, cracks or sags can be identified and located. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in Tempe.
Is my Tempe drain line old enough to worry about?
Possibly. Tempe is one of the Valley's older inner-ring suburbs, and census-based figures put the median home at about 1983. That means a typical house has a building sewer more than 40 years old, and plenty of homes in the neighborhoods around Downtown Tempe and Mill Avenue are older still. Lines from that period can be cast iron or clay. On camera, cast iron often shows rough scale and tuberculation that narrows the pipe, along with cracks along the bottom where waste has worn it thin. Clay tends to show root masses at the joints and sections that have shifted out of line.
What will the inspection show me?
You see a live picture as the camera moves from the cleanout toward the street, along with a distance counter. The plumber points out:
- Where materials change, for example from cast iron to a plastic repair
- Roots, scale, grease or wipes and how much of the pipe they block
- Cracks, holes, broken bells or a collapsed section
- Sags where water stands and offsets where joints moved
A locator can then find the camera head from above so the spot and depth can be marked in the yard.
What if the problem is on the city side?
If the footage shows your line is clear all the way out and the backup is in the public main, contact Tempe Water Utilities. For repairs on your side, the City of Tempe Community Development Department issues permits through its Development Services permit counter at City Hall, and the plumber doing the work usually handles the application.
A Tempe note
Tempe is landlocked, with dense development in the north and lower-density neighborhoods to the south. In the south, newer subdivisions mostly have plastic lines, where the camera tends to find settling and joint problems instead of corrosion. Either way, keep a copy of the video with your house records. Whether you own, are buying or rent the house out, a recent recording of the main drain helps you decide whether a line can wait or needs work now. When old pipe is found, the footage also helps a plumber judge whether lining, a spot repair or replacement fits best.
Sewer Camera Inspection questions in Tempe
Who is responsible for the sewer pipe between my house and the main?
Is a sewer camera inspection worth it before buying a home here?
Will roots from trees in my yard show up on camera?
Can a camera inspection help when selling or renting out a home?
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