by Chris Schulz | Dec 7, 2016 | Drain Service, Pipe Cleaning, Sewer Cleaning, Sewer Jetting, Uncategorized
A plugged storm drain can cause major issues for businesses, residential and industrial areas. Most plugged storm drains aren’t noticed until your building is flooding and its too late. preventing a plugged storm drain is easy. Remove built up debris before a plugged storm drain occurs!
What Are Storm Drains?
A storm drain is a drain designed to carry rainwater that is gathered over an area water cannot penetrate. Rainwater is diverted to a catch basin or a curb and gutter system. Once in the catch basin the storm water will follow piping to different types watersheds (rivers, lakes and ponds).
What causes plugged storm drains?
Storm drains gather water from a large areas such as parking lots, streets or paved lots. While most of these areas are paved and cleaned periodically, they still collect debris. Debris can be anything from sand, leaves, trash etc. Parking lots and roadways are the largest contributors to plugged storm drains . Although these areas are cleaned periodically, they still gather debris. Overtime this debris is slowly washed into the storm sewer and begins to build up slowly reducing the overall volume in which the storm sewer can handle. Once enough build up has accumulated the storm sewer may become overwhelmed during a rainfall event thus causing a back up to occur.
When should I clean my plugged storm drain?
Visually inspect your storm sewer catch basins twice per year for any signs of accumulated sediment or debris (Spring and Fall). While you may not be able to see inside the sewer line itself, noticing trash or leaves in the catch basin may indicate that you are about to have a plugged storm drain. If you notice standing water in your parking lot during a rainfall event it may indicate a plugged storm drain. If you notice any of these things immediately call a professional and have your storm sewer inspected.
by Art Kallenbach | Dec 1, 2016 | Drain King, Uncategorized
Restaurant Grease Truck – Pumped Grease
“Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting the results to be different.”, is a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein. I recently had a restaurant owner angry with me at the cost of clearing his main line of restaurant grease. The process took 4 hours and required a 4,000psi jetter at 18 gallons per minute, and a vacuum truck so the store would not flood while we were working. He told me he had been the manager of restaurants for 20 years and never paid this much to have grease cleaned from the lines.
I explained to him he paid about the cost of 1 year’s maintenance to keep restaurant grease from plugging the drains in their building. Routine maintenance for a restaurant with grease issues is 2 to 4 times a year. Some restaurants need to be done monthly. Some restaurant owners and managers believe a grease trap in the store means all grease will be stopped from entering the building sanitary sewer. This is not true. Restaurant Grease traps are not meant to stop 100% of the grease from entering the sanitary sewer. When functioning properly Restaurant grease traps stop approximately 85% of the grease leaving 15% to flow into the restaurant’s sanitary sewer eventually plugging those drain lines.
Loss of Revenue and loss of customers because they are angry that your restaurant is not open is not good for business. Even worse is customers that will never return because they are disgusted by the smell caused by backed up grease drain lines. Do’s and Don’ts? Do contact us now drainkinginc.com for a free appraisal and/or estimate. Do recycle cooking oils. Do empty your grease trap at least quarterly. Don’t repeat the same mistakes. Don’t think everything is fine because there is nothing backing up on your floor or in the customer’s restrooms.
by Chris Schulz | Nov 14, 2016 | Drain King, Grease Control, Uncategorized
Drain King Inc. has proudly served the Minneapolis, St. Paul metro and surrounding areas drain cleaning needs for the past 25 years. Drain King Inc. uses the most advanced technology to determine the problem and solve it quickly and cost effectively. We offer both residential and commercial drain cleaning services.
Our commercial drain cleaning services provide urgent, on demand service as well as scheduled maintenance programs for your properties. Don’t allow your grease traps, inflammable waste traps, floor drains or septic system shut you down. Call us today and we will sit down with you and put together a comprehensive cost effective preventative maintenance plan.
Our residential drain cleaning services provide urgent, on demand service as well as scheduled preventative maintenance programs. Don’t allow you clogged toilet, clogged bathroom sink, clogged kitchen sink, clogged mainline, clogged laundry tub or clogged floor drain to flood your home today.
Drain King’s phone number (763-786-3000) is answered by a real person 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.
List of Residential Services:
Residential Drain Cleaning
Floor Drain Cleaning
Mainline Sewer Cleaning
Kitchen Sink Cleaning
Bathroom Sink Cleaning
Septic Tank Pumping
Drain Field Cleaning
Floor Drain Clogs
Mainline Sewer Clogs
Kitchen Sink Clogs
Bathroom Sink Clogs
Toilet clogs
Septic Tank Clogs
Drain Field Clogs
List of Commercial Services:
Parking Ramp Floor drain Cleaning.
Sand Trap Pumping
Inflammable Waste Trap Pumping/Cleaning
Lift Station Pumping/Cleaning
Grease Trap Pumping
Storm Water Inspections
Frozen Pipe Thawing
Storm sewer jetting and pumping, Televising up to 1000′ (1″-36″ lines in diameter)
Televising & Locating Sources
Verifying & Locating Breaks
Composite piping & Size of Line
Locating Pre-existing Lines for Remodel Jobs
Water Jetting (1-36″ line)
Line Thawing
Optional Video Recording
Effective Grease Control
Lift Station Cleaning
Waste Vegetable Oil Recycling
Free Estimates
by Chris Schulz | Nov 14, 2016 | Drain King, Drain Service, Frozen Pipes, Grease Control, Lift Station, Locate Pipes, Pipe Cleaning, Sewer Cleaning, Uncategorized
No; is the answer for the vast majority of home owners. There are several reasons not to water jet, but first I’d like to warn you about a trend in Drain Cleaning of Main Drains that is happening in the Minneapolis and St. Paul as well as surrounding communities like Fridley, Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Anoka, Mounds View, Shoreview, Little Canada, Roseville, Robinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Inver Grove Heights, South Saint Paul, West St. Paul, North St. Paul, Woodbury, etc.
There are currently several Drain Cleaning Companies preying on unsuspecting homeowners. They sell water jetting as a means to make all your plumbing work better and make all your drains drain faster. Statements like this simply are not true. While a main drain line cleaned at the normal cost of approximately $300, the drain cleaning companies selling water jetting will charge more than $1,200, one thousand two hundred dollars for the service. The vast majority of home owners do not need this service. The cheaper service is just as good. Root regrown will occur at the same rate with mechanical snake cleaning as with water jetting. There is no difference.
What is Water jet used for? A water jet uses high pressure water (4,000psi) at a flow rate of around 18 gallons per minute. The Water jet impact of the water is actually what cuts the roots. The problem is that Water jets are designed to operate upstream. In nearly all residential plumbing water jet is a down stream proposition. Minneapolis plumbing around the turn of the century allowed for the installation of 6 six inch clay pipe running almost to the foundation of the house. A 6 inch pipe will hold many times more volume of roots compared to a 4 inch pipe. This means it will often take longer for roots to cause a backup.
by Ralph Peterson | Apr 1, 2015 | Grease Control, Uncategorized
Commercial kitchens produce a large amount of grease and fats that need to be disposed of regularly to maintain functionality and environmental regulations. Restaurants use grease traps or inflammable waste traps to collect these FOG (fat, oil, grease) materials, which prevents them from congealing in pipes and causing the sewer system to overflow. The grease collected from these kinds of kitchens can be categorized into two separate types: yellow grease and brown grease.
Yellow grease is typically used cooking oil left over from deep fat fryers and industrial-sized griddles. When the fryers need to be cleaned, the used grease is emptied into metal drum containers where it cools and congeals, and can then be recycled. It is considered a “clean” type of grease because the food it comes in contact with is either fresh or frozen, so there is no chance of contamination. Recycled yellow grease is mainly used to feed livestock, but it’s also used to make soap, cosmetics, detergents, rubber, and some types of clothing. It can even be used to create biodiesel fuel! Biofuels that have been created from yellow grease burn cleaner than other types of fuel, they have a lower carbon content, and they don’t produce carbon monoxide. They can be used to generate power and heat.
Brown grease is used to describe the FOG materials that are collected in grease traps or waste traps. These receptacles are designed to catch the FOGs before they can contaminate the rest of the sewer line. Some are small enough to fit under a commercial sink, while others need to be installed underground. Because the waste traps hold everything that is washed down a commercial drain, the grease mingles with rotting food and dirty water, making it unsafe and unsanitary for recycling purposes. Brown grease is usually pumped out of the waste traps and disposed of in landfills or incinerated. In the last few years, there has been some interest in creating ways to recycle brown grease. While it will never be suitable to manufacture the same types of products as its yellow counterpart, brown grease has the potential to become a viable alternative to diesel fuel and an oil substitute for heavy fuel. Developing technology may make it possible for brown grease to be processed in a manner similar to yellow grease, making it a viable source of biofuel.
The most important thing to remember about grease, whether yellow or brown, is to keep it out of your drain as much as possible. If left untreated, grease buildup almost always leads to sewer overflow. Remember to collect it and throw it away instead of dumping it down your sink or toilet! The environment will thank you, and so will your wallet!
by Ralph Peterson | Mar 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
Drain Video Inspection Player
Clogged drains, pipes, or sewers can be caused by a number of factors. These can include excess debris, overgrown roots, waste blockage, sediment build-up, or grease clogs, to name a few. In order to effectively clear a clogged drain/pipe/sewer, sometimes our professionals need to have a good idea of the cause of blockage this helps them employ correct, appropriate methods.
To properly diagnose and treat a drain clog, we use state-of-the-art, video inspection technology. By inserting a small camera into the blocked area of the drain, which allows for real-time visual inspection, our professionals can determine the cause and location of the blockage. This in turns helps them pinpoint the most effective solution to clear it up.
The technician inserts a high-resolution digital camera attached to a flexible fiber-optic cable down the pipes or drains. This tool is also equipped with powerful lights, enabling the inspection of the inside of the pipes. The video camera utilizes an infrared lighting system that contains a small transmitter. It is also attached to a screen or monitor for real-time visualization that can also be recorded. This footage shows the technician exactly where excavation is required, locating the problem in the drain line and confirming the interior condition of the line.
These cameras are capable of traveling up to 1,000 feet inside any pipe from 6 to 30 inches in diameter and inspecting any portion of the pipe, using tilt and pan technology. This innovation greatly increases productivity and helps in performing repairs or clearing up clogs in an efficient manner, saving time, effort and money.
For more information about our professional video camera technology, please feel free to contact us at Drain King today. We would be happy to provide you with a free quote on our services.
