Kids; they do the strangest things for reasons adults will never understand. When your kid suddenly develops an affinity for throwing items in the toilet and flushing them or sends things down an open sink drain, it can be nerve-racking and obnoxious. It can also be costly if you have to call a plumber often. If you want to see all of the things that are stuck in your sewer drains because of what your kid flushed or sent down a drain, a pipe inspection camera and a sewer inspector can help. Here is how.

The Inspector Brings in the Pipe Inspection Camera and Threads It Down the Drains

The first thing that happens is that the inspector brings in the pipe inspection camera. He/she opens the case where the camera, tubing, and video screen are stored. Then he/she turns the camera on, turns on the video viewing screen, and begins to thread the camera and its hose down a drain. If you want, he/she can start with the toilet first. Then you can see if there are still objects stuck in the toilet trap and toilet stack that will cause problems in the future.

You may even recover items you did not know your kid flushed. Then all of the tubing and camera is removed from the toilet and the process is repeated for the sink and/or its drains. Finally, the inspector can thread the camera down through floor drains in your basement floor or into sewer drains that are located at the base of the toilet stacks. You can watch the whole inspection on the video screen inside the camera's case.

Retrieving Items Your Kid Flushed

You may not want to keep anything your kid flushed down the drains, but you also do not want these items to remain where they are. They can continue to cause clogs and sewer problems if left where they are stuck. Once the inspector has located these items, he/she can send another snake-like device down the drain. This device has a claw-like appendage on the end that can grab items and pull them back up and out of drains. The process is most successful if the inspector can pull the items from a toilet stack (up or down, the direction does not matter), or from a floor drain in the basement. You can choose to dispose of these items or sanitize them, but at least your drains will be clear again.