High-Pressure Water Jetting
High-pressure water jetting cuts through tree roots, grease and years of build-up, clearing blocked drains properly and scouring the pipe walls clean, not just poking a hole through the clog.
What is water jetting and when is it needed?
Water jetting (hydro jetting) clears blocked drains using a high-pressure water hose with a specialised nozzle that cuts through tree roots, grease and debris while scouring the full bore of the pipe clean. It's the modern standard for serious blockages: where an old-style electric eel pokes a hole through a clog, jetting removes it.
High-Pressure Water Jetting
Jetting: how serious blockages actually get cleared
Ready Plumbing carries high-pressure water jetting equipment on our blocked drain call-outs across the Northern Beaches and North Shore. Jetting drives water at thousands of PSI through a specialised nozzle, powerful enough to cut tree roots back to the pipe wall, strip grease and scale, and flush the debris out of the line. Where older methods poke a hole through a blockage and call it cleared, jetting cleans the full bore of the pipe.
Tree root infestations
The number-one drain blocker in Sydney's older suburbs.
Grease-choked kitchen lines
Jetting strips the pipe wall instead of tunnelling through the fat.
Recurring blockages
Lines that re-block after eel clearing usually just weren't fully cleared.
Stormwater lines
Full of silt, leaves and garden debris.
Commercial drains
On maintenance schedules.
Jetting blind is guesswork, so we pair it with our CCTV drain camera: inspect, jet, then re-inspect. You see the before and after, and, more importantly, you see why the line blocked. If the camera shows roots entering through a crack, jetting has cleared the symptom but not the cause; sealing the entry with no-dig pipe relining is what stops the cycle. If the pipe is sound and the blockage was grease or debris, you’re done: no upsell required.
What To Expect
What to expect on a jetting job
Assess
Camera inspection to identify the blockage, pipe material and condition.
Jet
Pressure and nozzle matched to the job; roots cut, walls scoured, debris flushed.
Verify
Camera back through the clean line; you see the result.
Advise
If there's damage behind the blockage, you get the footage and options, priced.
Available 24/7 for emergency blockages through our blocked drains service, across the Northern Beaches, North Shore, Inner West and Eastern Suburbs.
Last reviewed: 8 July 2026 by the Ready Plumbing team.
FAQ
Water Jetting: your questions answered
Plumbing problems can be extremely frustrating. Our licensed Sydney plumbers are here to provide fast, reliable answers and solutions.
Is water jetting better than an electric eel?
For most blockages, yes. An eel drills a hole through the blockage, which often re-blocks within months. Jetting cleans the full diameter of the pipe, cutting roots back to the wall and stripping away grease, so the line stays clear far longer. Eels still have their place in some fragile old pipes, and we carry both.
Can water jetting damage my pipes?
Not when it's operated by someone qualified. We assess the pipe first, usually with a CCTV camera, and match pressure to the pipe's material and condition. On a badly broken pipe, no clearing method is a fix; that's a repair conversation, and we'll show you the footage.
Does jetting remove tree roots permanently?
Jetting cuts roots back to the pipe wall, which clears the line, but roots regrow through the same crack or joint they entered by. For a permanent fix, the entry point needs sealing, usually with no-dig pipe relining. We'll show you the root entry on camera so you can decide.
What blockages does jetting handle?
Tree roots, fat and grease build-up (the classic kitchen-line blockage), soap and sediment scale, and general debris, found in sewer lines, stormwater pipes and commercial drainage alike.
Guides & Real Jobs
Helpful reading from our plumbers
Guide
Blocked Drain: Can You Fix It Yourself, or Do You Need a Plumber?
Most blocked drains start small: a sink that's draining slower than it used to. A few household items can genuinely clear that. But if sewage is coming up rather than water going down, that's a different problem entirely, and it won't wait until morning.
Case Study · Balgowlah
Blocked Kitchen Drain in Balgowlah: Years of Grease Finally Caught Up
An emergency call to a blocked kitchen drain in Balgowlah traced back to years of grease and oil hardening in the gully, cleared the same visit with high-pressure water jetting.
Case Study · Seaforth
Blocked Sewer Pipe in Seaforth: Cleared With Jetting, Confirmed Clear on Camera
A Sunday afternoon call-out to a blocked sewer pipe in Seaforth: gully overflow traced to root intrusion in an 80-year-old pipe, cleared with high-pressure water jetting and confirmed clear on CCTV camera.
Case Study · Seaforth
Broken Sewer Pipe in Seaforth: Blockage Backs Up and Floods the Bathroom
A Friday afternoon emergency in Seaforth: a sewer pipe cracked by ground movement had been catching baby wipes for months until it blocked solid and sewage backed up into the lower bathroom. Cleared in three hours, then rerouted around the break.
Case Study · Wheeler Heights
Garage Flooding in Wheeler Heights: Fixing 30 Years of Water Seepage Behind the Slab
A Wheeler Heights garage had water seeping in behind it for 30 years because the ag-line and blue metal drainage was never wrapped in geotextile fabric and the brick and slab were never waterproofed. Here's how we fixed it without adding more pipe.
Case Study · Allambie Heights
Sloping Block Drainage in Allambie Heights: Stopping Stormwater Pooling Against the House
A retaining wall in Allambie Heights was holding back a sloping block, but runoff from the hill and the house above kept finding its way through the backyard and pooling against the house below. Here's how we caught it and redirected it away for good.
Case Study · Mona Vale
Water Under the House in Mona Vale: Old Terracotta Pipes and No Subsoil Drainage
A Mona Vale home had water leaking through the brickwork and running under the house. The cause was old terracotta stormwater pipe, cracked and full of tree roots. New PVC piping and a subsoil drainage system stopped it for good.
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Ready Plumbing is a Sydney-based and fully-licensed plumbing business with more than 20 years of experience, offering a range of residential and commercial plumbing solutions and emergency plumbing 24/7. Get in touch and we'll respond promptly.
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