Thousands of property owners experience problems with their sewer lines on a daily basis. The natural inclination is to contact a drain cleaner for an inspection of the sewer line. Many drain cleaners are quick to diagnose a sewer line as being “back pitched” without understanding the exact problem with the sewer line. It is important to understand how to resolve a back pitched sewer line and if there are any other problems with the sewer pipe. You should ask questions like “where the pipe back pitched”,“ is how bad is the back pitch”, “how can you tell it is a back pitch” etc….
It is also common that the plumber diagnosis a back pitched pipe when there are other problems with the sewer line. In this case you may resolve the section of pipe that is back pitched, yet your sewer line still may not function properly. Other problems you may experience are your sewer being disconnected from the city sewer or separated under the sidewalk. In this case you would have corrected the back pitched pipe, but the sewer line still would not be functioning. The sewage would now pass the area that was back pitched and now get stuck at the point where it is separated under the sidewalk, or at the city sewer. It is always suggested to replace the sewer line in full when experiencing any issues, this way you avoid the possibility of additional cost with a secondary problem.
Depending on exactly where the sewer line is back pitched, the best resolution is to replace the entire pipe from the house, to the city sewer in the roadway. In some cases, if the back pitched pipe is closer to the house, on the property, you can replace a portion of sewer line and try to re-connect to the older section of sewer pipe further out on the sidewalk or roadway. If the sewer pipe is back pitched in the roadway, you will most likely have to replace the entire pipe to properly correct the issue.
Recently in Brooklyn
A water main and sewer contractor was hired to fix a back pitched sewer line on the property after the owners plumber concluded that the pipe was not flowing due to a pitch problem. Once the property was opened, it became apparent that there was a pitch problem however, it was very minor and was not the reason that the sewage was not flowing. The sewer could have functioned for many years with the “pitch problem”.
Measuring pitch of the sewer pipe |
Installing the new cast iron sewer pipe |
The main issue was a separation of the pipe in the roadway. The sewage was slowing down at the point where the pitch problem was yet was flowing up until the point where the pipe was separated. After the section of pipe was repaired with 6” cast iron, the sewer line was functioning properly.
