Sewer Line Maintenance: Keep Drains Flowing Freely

What is a Sewer Line Clean Out Access ? 

A sewer line cleanout is a vertical pipe that has one end connected to the lateral sewer line that runs underground connecting a residential home or commercial building to the public sewer line.

The other end of this vertical pipe extends to the ground surface where it is capped. This cap allows easy access to the buildings sewer line for maintenance purposes and it also serves as the best way for locating the building’s sewer line in cases of an emergency plumbing situation when quick access to the sewer line is needed in order to prevent the sewer line from backing up into a building or a home.

If the main building drain clogs up or overflows, the owner can go outside to the sewer line clean out and unscrew the cap to release the water and help prevent it from backing up into the building. For this reason, the capped end should remain visible on the ground surface and not be obstructed by any objects, making it inaccessible when quick access is needed. The cap can usually be easily unscrewed using a wrench or sometimes even by hand if it was not previously tightened down hard.