PRODUCT NEWS
Sewer cleaning: Ending the scourge of “blown toilets”
An innovative new type of nozzle is specifically designed to prevent blown toilets at a fraction of the cost of high-end models, making it affordable for entire fleets.
For the operators cleaning municipal sewer, storm and sanitary lines, dreaded “blown toilets” can quickly become a community clean-up and public relations nightmare.
“A ‘blown toilet’ can leave sewer material on a homeowner’s floor and toilet seat, raising tensions in the community,” says Dan Story, Operations Manager at KEG Technologies, a manufacturer of sewer and storm lines products including Tier 1 to Tier 3 nozzles, chain cutters, floor cleaners and camera nozzle systems.
Blown toilets typically occur when the operator rushes up the sewer line with little or no cleaning going up the line on the first pass. This results in excessive piles of debris on the return trip through the same stretch of sewer line. Air flow from the jet nozzle then compresses between the nozzle and the debris, creating significant positive pressure, according to Story.
“When the debris passes by a home’s service line, the pressurised air blasts up and out of the service line, causing a blown toilet,” explains Story.
Other circumstances, such as failing to open the upstream manhole when cleaning sewer pipes, can also multiply the incidence of blown toilets. This can increase pressure in the system, leading to blown residential toilets when sewer gases flow up the laterals and cause sewage water to overflow.
Now, an industry innovator has redesigned and renamed a specialty nozzle used to prevent blown toilets, making it widely available at a fraction of the cost with greater mobility.
The new nozzle, which at least one Los Angeles area municipality has found affordable to use on several of its sewer trucks, offers
44 | July 2025 |
draintraderltd.com
the tantalising possibility of eliminating blown toilets throughout the sewer cleaning industry.
Economically eliminating blown toilets
Due to the ill will generated by blown toilets as well as the community cleanup required, KEG previously developed a specialty nozzle called the Equalizer designed to virtually eliminate blown toilets. In this model, twelve forward jets at dual angles not only clean but also create an umbrella pattern which blocks the airflow that can create problems with blown toilets. Six rearward jets with the OEM's high-efficiency fluid mechanics provide superior propulsion, cleaning, and debris removal.
Although the nozzle is effective, its relatively high cost has put it out of reach for many operators, making it a specialty item shared among the fleet.
In search of a more universal and economic solution, the OEM invested in R&D and testing to create a new, improved, more
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