WAILUKU, Hawaii
Maui Pumping is a company dedicated to providing quick, friendly service for the many Maui residents who depend on septic systems or cesspools to dispose of waste from their home. However, even residents who have homes connected to local sewer systems instead of on-site waste disposal can still benefit from one of the company’s services.
Maui Pumping offers a service called “Sewer Camera Inspection and Location.” This dual-purpose service is available to anyone owning a property on Maui that connects to a sewer system. Because sewer lines are buried underground, it takes special equipment to learn anything significant about them.
A resident may want to order a sewer camera service for two main reasons: locating the sewer line and identifying the material the line is made from. Locating the sewer line is vital for those who need to dig on the property or do major outdoor renovation like pouring concrete for a new driveway. New homeowners may also want to have their sewer line located just for future reference and recordkeeping.
The other common reason a homeowner will order a sewer camera inspection is to identify the type of material the sewer line is made from. Sewer lines have been made out of a few different materials over the last century, making it especially important for owners of older homes to know if their sewer line is cast iron or clay. Cast iron and clay sewer lines were only used decades ago, and could be prone to failure due to their age.
If renovations have been done on a home since the 1970s, cast iron, clay or ductile iron pipes may have already been replaced with durable plastic. Even though this may be a relief to discover for a new homeowner of an older home, the material can’t be identified without digging up the sewer line or using a sewer camera.
A common misconception is that camera inspections are used to identify leaks in sewer lines. While modern cameras are used in the service, a leak or break in the pipe would have to be large enough to see on a utility camera feed. Since many leaks are too small or at too difficult of an angle to see, Maui Pumping recommends that industry standard pressure tests be conducted by a licensed plumber instead to identify leaks in a sewer line.
A camera inspection may still be able to discover obstructions like tree roots growing through clay pipes or cast iron, even if that is not the intended purpose of the service.
Sewer Camera Inspection and Location is carried out by Maui Pumping technicians who access a home’s sewer line from an access point outside the home, usually a drainage spot in the street. The camera is attached to a flexible cable that can bend and turn to fit through pipes. While the camera is being guided through the pipe, technicians can watch a video feed from the camera in real time.
While the inspection is being carried out, professionals can mark the location of the sewer line by picking up a signal emitted by a location device attached to the camera.
To schedule a Sewer Camera Inspection and Location service with Maui Pumping, homeowners are encouraged to call or use the company’s online scheduling tool. The phone number to reach Maui Pumping is 808-871-7867. To schedule online, residents should visit https://www.mauipumpingservices.com/. The upper right-hand corner of every page on the site contains a blue box that links to the online scheduling tool.
Online scheduling requires prospective customers to select the type of service they want, give some basic contact information, and write out a short message describing the purpose of the appointment. Although the online scheduling tool allows users to select a preferred appointment time, all appointments are confirmed by the company’s scheduling department.
Residents may use the online scheduling tool or phone number any time.
