Express Sewer & Drain Blog

When municipal pipes become damaged, they quickly become a significant issue for the surrounding community. In addition to the initial time and cost, you must also factor in roadway traffic, pedestrians, and major restorations for municipal infrastructure. Even a slight damage will mean road closures and delays, or even a water shut off to nearby homes and businesses.

Fortunately, these impractical sewer repair processes are now a thing of the past, thanks to modern trenchless technology. Trenchless technology, one of the single greatest innovations to home water and lateral pipe repair techniques, has helped homeowners across the globe save thousands on their pipe repairs and replacements, while taking a fraction of the time of traditional repairs to complete. This method of pipe repair was first developed in the 1970s to solve an agriculture dilemma with the placement of pipes. Now, the same methods are being used for municipal pipe repair. 

Gone are the down-times of traditional repairs and the costly processes of physically excavating manhole lines. With trenchless solutions, city planners can fully tend to their municipal pipe systems with the same efficiency and ease as homeowners using these solutions on their own property.

What is Trenchless Pipe Repair?

Trenchless technology allows plumbing professionals to conduct pipe repairs without any invasive digging. Plus, this type of no-dig repair can be completed in about a day and doesn’t damage the surrounding land. 

To complete trenchless pipe repairs, there are two main methods: pipe lining and pipe bursting. Cured-in-place pipe lining (CIPP) is the application of epoxy resin liners to damaged or comporosed sewer systems through existing entry points. Most commonly, this is completed through manhole openings along municipal sewer systems, hence the name “manhole-to-manhole lining.”

Pipe bursting, alternatively, is a form of trenchless technology that expands and bursts a pipeline while a new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) line is installed in its place. To rupture the old pipe from the inside, a bursting head is inserted through an existing opening. This device has a new and flexible HDPE pipe attached to the back that instantly replaces the original pipeline. 

The Problem With Traditional Pipe Repair Methods

Before the introduction of municipal trenchless technology, plumbers were using traditional pipe repair methods. Not only were these methods inefficient, they also posed risks to the surrounding areas. Let’s take a look at some of the problems associated with traditional pipe repairs for municipal applications. 

Costly

As city planners dealing with municipal sewer and manhole-to-manhole pipe breaks know, dealing with these issues is an often expensive and frustrating affair. Not only is the cost of labor quite expensive, but obtaining the right equipment can easily cost thousands of dollars. 

This is largely due to the complexity of traditional pipe repair. Plumbers will need to be paid for their work in addition to the landscaping fees and equipment costs. Moreover, this type of repair work can be quite time consuming. And, the more time that it takes to complete a repair, the more expensive it will end up being. 

Invasive

Traditional repair methods require plumbers to dig up the ground surrounding the damaged pipes. For residential repairs, this often means tearing up the lawn and sacrificing aesthetic appeal for functioning plumbing features. However, municipal pipes often run beneath streets and sidewalks. So, accessing these pipes requires road closures and detours to allow the plumbers to dig through concrete. 

Disrupts Daily Operations

As mentioned, repairing pipes by digging into the ground can wreak havoc on the surrounding businesses. Road closures to access manholes can cause extensive delays and detours. Additionally, depending on the extent of the damage, water shutoffs can disrupt activities for both homes and businesses. Not only is this an inconvenience for local residents, this can impact businesses if they need to temporarily close to accommodate a lengthy municipal pipe repair project. 

Going Trenchless Makes Things Simple

No matter how complex, wide, or damaged your specific municipal pipe systems are, trenchless, resin repairs can meet all of your needs in a more efficient and affordable way than excavation repairs. Trenchless lining for sewer pipes can resolve issues in your municipal lines no matter their cause. Consider going trenchless for:

• Sewer line cracking and fracturing
• Breakage due to environmental factors
• Degradation with age
• Corrosion or chemical breakdown
• Intrusions along critical sections or joints

Trenchless cured-in-place pipe technologies perform just as well in municipal pipe repairs as in private home repairs, if not even more so. By using epoxy resins and liquid Perma-liners, specialists can effectively coat the inner walls of municipal sewer pipes, no matter the diameter size or unique system arrangements, and cure-in-place entire new pipe sections with ease using air-operated bladder applications.

Even more beneficial is the scope with which trenchless sewer repair affects roadway activity and the daily functions of municipal systems. Completed using small entry- and exit-points, these repairs leave city roadways and traffic uninterrupted, while also severely cutting back on landscaping and repaving costs.

During installation and resin curing, you won’t even need to shut down water flow or affect regular activity! By using bypass pumps and innovative plumbing systems, trenchless experts can keep your municipal sewer pipes running normally even during repairs. Not only can a cured-in-place pipe fully repair your city sewer lines in a matter of hours, but it can also accomplish this without affecting regular performance of your sewer pipes.

A Proactive Approach for Long-Lasting Results From Sacramento Plumbing Experts

Trenchless pipe repair methods always deliver lasting value and final pipe products that can perform efficiently for generations to come. A common misconception of trenchless cured-in-place pipe is that these solutions are only temporary fixes, and that full, excavation pipe repairs are an inevitability.

However, this is not true with trenchless technologies, as the replacement pipes and relining resins are guaranteed to last for over 50 years, no matter the diameter of the pipe they’re fixing or the complexity of the pipe system.

It’s for these drastic benefits and real-world efficiency that trenchless pipe repairs have become the preferred method of dealing with city sewer damage. Bringing both short- and long-term advantages, and long-lasting results, trenchless municipal repairs are the go-to solution for city planners seeking to fix their sewers and manhole lines both quickly and affordably.

In the Sacramento area, the most effective trenchless technologies are those employed by businesses like Express Sewer & Drain, who specialize in offering affordable solutions for municipal sewer solutions and private properties alike. For more information on what trenchless solutions can bring to your municipal pipe repairs, or on how the cured-in-place pipe process works, contact the experts at Express Sewer & Drain today.