Restaurant Main Line Jetting in Phoenix

A restaurant's main line is the private pipe that carries every fixture's waste out of the building and to the city sewer, and the owner is responsible for all of it. Phoenix Water Services says it plainly: the city handles the infrastructure in public rights of way and easements, and everything from that connection back to the business belongs to the owner. Chandler's code says the owner is responsible for cleaning, unstopping, maintenance and repair of the building service line and private sewer mains, up to and including the tap on the city main.

Phoenix's repair offer in City Code 28-5.1 is written for single-family and duplex properties. A restaurant should assume the whole run is its own until the Water Services Department says otherwise. Other Valley cities word this differently, so if you are outside Phoenix and Chandler, ask your city's utility before you assume.

If every drain in the kitchen is slow and the lowest fixtures back up first, it is the main. A branch clog affects the fixtures on that branch only. A main clog affects everything upstream of it, and the sewage comes up in the lowest opening, which is usually a floor sink or a floor drain near the back door. Our guide to telling a main line clog from a branch clog walks through the checks.

Check one other thing before you call a plumber. If neighbors in the same building or the same block are also backing up, the blockage may be in the city main. Phoenix takes sewer overflow reports on its 24/7 emergency hotline at 602-261-8000. A crew working in your private line cannot fix a blockage in the street.

We jet the main through the cleanout and work out toward the city sewer. The 2024 plumbing code requires a cleanout where the building drain meets the building sewer, within 10 feet upstream of that junction, and further cleanouts at 100 foot intervals on building sewers under 8 inches. Those access points decide how the job goes. A cleanout that reaches grade opens in minutes, and one nobody can find is the first thing we look for.

The hose for a main is larger than the one used inside. RIDGID's manual for its larger jetters pairs 4 to 6 inch lateral and main lines with a 1/4 inch hose on the mid-size machine, and 4 to 10 inch lines with a 3/8 inch hose on the largest. We use the nozzle and hose that fit the pipe, and a camera pass after jetting is worth the extra time. It shows the wall, the joints and any sag. See our sewer camera inspection page for what the footage tells you.

A main that has been jetted but fed by dirty branches will be full again within weeks. The branches carry the grease, and they are cleaned from inside, with a smaller hose, which our page on restaurant lateral line jetting explains. We usually do both in one visit: branches first, then the main, then a camera on the main. That order keeps loosened material from getting trapped at the first bend.

If your cleanout is not accessible, we will say so. Jetting without one is possible in some layouts and not in others, and the code requires a cleanout at the junction in the first place. Our FAQ on hydro jetting without an accessible cleanout explains the options.

• The city main is the problem. If the sewer in the street is blocked, it is the city's to clear, and you report it on the emergency line.
• The pipe is broken or collapsed. Jetting cannot restore a pipe that has lost its shape. A camera will show it, and the answer is sewer repair.
• Roots are the cause, and they keep returning. Jetting cuts and flushes roots, and a root-bound joint will grow them back. A camera finds the joint, and a spot repair stops the cycle.
• Only one fixture backs up. That is a kitchen branch problem, not a main problem. See restaurant kitchen drain cleaning.

Call us with your city, where your cleanout is if you know, and what you are seeing. For a main that is only slow, we book the work before opening or after close. For a main that has backed up into the kitchen, we run 24/7 emergency service, and our night dispatcher takes the call with a supervisor calling back in the morning for anything non-urgent. We give an upfront price before work starts, and estimates are free. For more on how we serve kitchens, see restaurant plumbing, hydro jetting and commercial drain cleaning.