A broken or leaking water or sewer line can be very messy to repair or replace. Your sewer line and water service lines are buried underground and run from your house to the municipal sewer or water lines that run along the street in front you your home. If the line cannot be repaired, it will need to be replaced which normally involves digging a trench from your house to the street.
Unfortunately, sometimes the sewer or water service lines run under a driveway, walkway, or other landscaping feature. Digging the necessary trench tears up your yard, bushes, flowers, and in some cases, your driveway, walkway, and landscaping features.
Fortunately, in recent years a new trenchless pipe replacement technique has been developed that allows your plumber or sewer-septic professional to replace your pipe without extensive digging. Also call pipe bursting, trenchless pipe replacement usually only requires two small holes to be dug. One hole is dug where the pipe connects to the municipal water or sewer system, and the other end is dug where pipe connects to the home.
The trenchless pipe replacement machine pulls a new pipe through the ground where your old pipe was buried. A new polyethylene pipe is attached to a steel bursting head and a chain or cable is hooked the bursting head. The cable is run through the old pipe and attached to a machine that pulls the new pipe through the old pipe.
As the new pipe is pulled into place, the bursting head breaks up or “bursts” the old pipe which is left in the ground. Once the new pipe is in place, the ends are connected to the home and to the municipal water or sewer service.
