What is a Sewer Clean out?

Some plumbing companies have line locator equipment! They can let you know what they have and how much they charge!

I would like to locate sewer cleanout. Where are they? I see one on the outside wall of kitchen and one on the outside wall on another part of house. Can these be the cleanest?

How do you use the drains and/or cleanouts along the outside wall of the kitchen and one other on another outside wall?

I have two sewer cleanouts on the walls of the kitchen and another on side of the house. Can these be used to drain water from the swimming pool? cannot find the ground for the sewer cleanup.

A possible addition to this article: In Canada, at least, there are often numerous cleanouts on each branch off the main sewer line, generally tucked behind cabinets. Thus, if only the sink (toilet/shower/whatever) is blocked, or if only the one bathroom is blocked, you can use the clean out for the sewer line directly from the problem area, rather than having to go through the entire house, which saves you a lot of time (and money, if you're paying your plumber by the hour). I kind of expected this would be standard since it's the easiest way to get access to a specific branchline where the problem is; steering augers into the proper path of a junction is a royal pain.

@anon167424 (The guy with the sinkhole issues): I'm afraid the city doesn't really know what it's talking about. The presence or absence of an opening that gives access to the sewage line into your home is irrelevant to the geological forces that cause sinkholes to develop. There are a number of other things that might cause it:

Natural ground conditions from the natural erosion of limestone or other rock types that are similarly susceptible to water erosion. Sinkholes are just like caves; they just open up rather than sideways.

Poor foundations. Standards for road construction are awfully poor in North America. Whenever there's a major flood incident, you'll see lots of footage of roads that have been washed out, particularly when they're over fill (rising above the natural ground). The powers that be refuse to understand this and keep rebuilding the roads the same way, which leaves geologists more than a bit annoyed. If you have a lot of groundwater activity in the area, the foundation issue would cause a sinkhole.

Broken pipes. Same issue with the foundations as above, but an old sewer or water line that breaks is going to leak large volumes of water. So, even if you don't naturally have a lot of groundwater activity, you now have far more than nature would ever throw at you. And in the case of a leaking water main (pressurized to 60 psi in my hometown), it only takes a day or two to cause critical damage.

And unfortunately, no, the city's not going to be liable. They installed the pipes properly -- just a long time ago and they need new ones. They built the foundation of the roads to spec, except the specs are useless.

The county replaced the sewer lines in our area. They gave us a clean out but it is 9feet under ground with no surface access. Is this within code and is it standard practice?

My primary clean out is in my front yard in the ground (at grade) about three or four feet from my foundation. There is another clean out coming out of the wall on the back of my house about one foot up from grade. It shares the wall with the kitchen sink but is not aligned with the sink drain necessarily.

Could you tell me what the purpose of this clean out is and give me some idea of how it is plumbed inside the wall? The house was built in 1984.

You would have to hire a plumber like I did and I didn't have one which is what my city claimed caused the sinkhole on my street.

I put a clean out closed to city sewer lines but connected to my lateral sewer lines. The cost is around $3,000 but plumber recommended replacing old terra cotta pipe with copper and install second clean out as the base of home to prevent backflow in my home. Total cost is $7,500 -- the joys of home ownership!

Not everyone has a clean-out. I do not and my local sewer company will not put one in even though I offered to pay for it.

@PandaGolden – Your local government office should have sewer maps of your area. They may not always be accurate, but the map gives you a starting point. Another thing you can do is locate your property lines by getting a map of your neighborhood from your county deed office. If you can find out where your property ends and where the sewer is on your property, you may be able to locate the sewer cleanout.

So, if you look around your property and in your basement and can’t find your sewer clean out, how do you find where it is? Is there someone that would know where it is?