A Kitchen Line on a Clog Schedule
Grease coats the wall a little more with every wash cycle. Once the clogs become predictable, a cable is only reopening the same channel.
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OUR SERVICES
High pressure water jetting for grease, sludge, scale, and roots in Clive drain and sewer lines. Camera verified before we start and after we finish.
OVERVIEW
Hydro jetting uses water at high pressure to scour the inside wall of a pipe back toward its original diameter. That is the difference between clearing a channel through a blockage and removing the material that formed it, and for grease, sludge, and mineral scale in Clive lines it is the only method that genuinely works.
Clive Public Works maintains 102 miles of water main and about 82 miles of local sanitary sewer, with drinking water coming through Des Moines Water Works and the regional producer. None of that covers the private lateral running from your building to the city main.
All work is performed in compliance with the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code as adopted by the State of Iowa.

WHEN JETTING IS THE RIGHT TOOL
Cabling handles obstructions. Jetting handles anything coating the pipe wall.
Grease coats the wall a little more with every wash cycle. Once the clogs become predictable, a cable is only reopening the same channel.
Restaurant lines carry a load no household matches. A scheduled jetting interval costs far less than a backup during service.
Camera footage showing a narrowed bore means material has to come off the wall rather than be bored through the middle of it.
Cutting roots leaves the fibrous remains in the line. Jetting flushes them out so the pipe is actually clear rather than merely open.
Mature landscaping east of 142nd Street sends roots to any joint that has shifted or opened. It shows up as a problem that returns on a schedule.
Mid 1990s pipe is usually sound, but three decades of grease, soap, and mineral film narrow a line considerably.
HYDRO JETTING SERVICES
Residential and commercial lines, from kitchen branches to main laterals.
The most common jetting job there is. Grease does not respond to a cable, and scouring the wall is what restores real diameter.
Full length jetting of the private lateral, followed by a camera pass out to the connection.
Restaurants and cafeterias on a scheduled interval, worked after close so service is never interrupted.
A root cutting nozzle shears intrusion and flushes the debris away instead of leaving it to reform a blockage.
Mineral scale and settled sludge come off the pipe wall under pressure, which no mechanical cable can accomplish.
Basement and commercial floor drains and the lines running off grease traps, which load up faster than anything else on a site.
WHY CLOG BUSTERS
Camera first, jet second, camera again to prove it worked.
We never jet blind. The camera confirms the pipe is sound enough to take pressure and shows exactly what is coating it.
Different nozzles do different jobs: penetrating a blockage, scouring grease, or cutting roots. Pressure is set to the pipe, not to the maximum available.
Clive permits this work through Construction Services in Community Development and requires contractors to register locally in addition to holding a State of Iowa license. We hold both.
We work the line end to end rather than only as far as the blockage, because the deposit that caused it extends well past that point.
A second pass shows the restored bore, then a full volume flow test confirms the line carries a real load.
FAQ
Still stuck? Call the Des Moines shop at (515) 259-1991.
Not in sound pipe. The real risk is jetting a line that has already failed, which is why we camera first and match pressure to the material and its condition. If the footage shows a cracked or offset line, we stop and tell you.
A cable is for obstructions and roots and works mechanically. A jetter is for coatings: grease, sludge, and scale. Cabling a coated line bores a channel that closes over again within months.
On an interval rather than on failure. The right frequency depends on volume and menu, and we set it from what the camera shows after the first service rather than guessing at it.
When the problem is grease or scale, yes. For a one-off obstruction it is unnecessary, and we will say so rather than selling you the larger service.
It cuts them and, more importantly, flushes the debris out. A cable alone shears roots and leaves the fibrous material in the line to catch whatever comes through next.
Clive Public Works maintains the distribution system, roughly 102 miles of main serving about 7,240 meters, with treated water coming from Des Moines Water Works and the regional producer.
About nine and a half miles from our shop and we run 24 hours, so same-day is normal and an active leak or backup is prioritized.
For installation and repair, yes, through the Construction Services Division in Clive Community Development. Clive also requires contractors to register with the city on top of their State of Iowa license. Routine drain cleaning does not need a permit.
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