24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Jackson, MS

Belhaven, Fondren and the neighborhoods near downtown have homes from the 1900s through the 1940s, many on piers with clay laterals.

Eastover and the neighborhoods near the Reservoir have larger homes from the 1940s through the 1960s.

South and west Jackson filled in from the 1950s through the 1970s with ranches on slabs.

Suburbs like Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood and Brandon have grown since the 1980s.

Jackson sits on Yazoo clay, which swells dramatically when wet and shrinks when dry, cracking foundations and pipes.

Jackson's sewer system has been managed under federal oversight in recent years, with JXN Water operating the city's water and sewer systems. Jackson homeowners maintain the private lateral from the house to the public sewer.

Heavy spring rains swell the Yazoo clay and saturate the ground, and long, dry summers shrink it, both shifting pipe. Roots grow year-round.

Mild winters bring occasional hard freezes, like the 2021 and 2022 storms, that burst pipes under raised houses.

Much of Jackson sits on Yazoo clay, a dense, expansive clay that can swell to many times its dry volume when wet. As seasons change, it heaves and shrinks, cracking slabs, shifting piers and pulling apart buried pipe. Many Jackson homeowners water their foundations during dry spells to limit movement. Sewer laterals in Yazoo clay often show offsets, cracks and sags on camera.

Belhaven, near Belhaven University, and Fondren, with its arts district, have bungalows, Tudors and cottages from the early twentieth century under huge oaks and magnolias. Many sit on piers with crawlspaces. Clay laterals fill with roots and crack as the soil moves.

Eastover, in northeast Jackson, has larger homes from the 1940s through the 1960s on wooded lots. Long laterals under big trees and Yazoo clay movement mean roots and cracks.

Jackson's water and sewer systems have struggled with aging pipe and underinvestment, and in recent years the city has operated under federal oversight with JXN Water managing repairs. Public main backups can affect several homes at once. If neighbors are also backing up, the problem may be in the public system, and it should be reported.

After a wet spring followed by a dry June, a family in a 1930s bungalow in Belhaven notices the bathtub filling with gray water. The plumber goes under the house and cables toward the street, clearing roots from a big oak about thirty feet out. On camera, the clay has shifted at two joints from soil movement. They plan a liner.

South and west Jackson filled in after World War II with ranches on slabs. Cast iron under those slabs is now sixty to seventy years old, and Yazoo clay movement cracks it. When every drain in one of those houses slows at once, the cast iron under the concrete is usually to blame.

Many older Jackson homes sit on piers, with drain lines running under the floor. In the humid climate, those lines rust and leak, and soil movement shifts them. While clearing the main, ask the plumber to put a light on the drains under the floor.

Jackson rarely freezes hard, but the winter storms of 2021 and 2022 brought days of below-freezing weather that burst pipes across the city. Pipes under raised houses and on exterior walls are most at risk. Wrap exposed pipe and keep a faucet dripping during a freeze.

Fondren's restaurants, the soul food spots across the city and the busy corridors along County Line Road and Lakeland Drive serve a lot of fried food. Restaurants keep grease traps pumped to avoid backups.

Catfish houses and fried chicken spots run fryers all day, and their grease interceptors need more frequent service than most.

Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood and Brandon have grown with newer homes and PVC drains, which handle soil movement better. Grease and wipes cause most clogs there.

Jackson State, Millsaps and Belhaven University bring students to older rentals nearby. Those houses tend to clog in the first weeks of each term, when everyone moves in at once.

Because Yazoo clay shrinks so much in dry weather, many Jackson homeowners run soaker hoses around their foundations during summer droughts to keep the soil evenly moist. That practice also helps protect the sewer lateral near the house, where shrinking clay can pull a joint apart. Keeping gutters and downspouts working so water doesn't pool against one side of the foundation helps too.

The Pearl River runs along Jackson's east side, and major floods, including 1979 and 2020, inundated neighborhoods near its banks. Groundwater near the river rises quickly after heavy rain, and cracked laterals take in water. Homes in those areas benefit from a backwater valve and a sealed lateral.

Downtown Jackson and the neighborhoods around the Old Capitol and the State Capitol have older homes and commercial buildings on sewers that are among the oldest in the city. Some have been renovated into lofts and offices, with new plumbing tied into old connections.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's on piers or a slab and whether neighbors are also having trouble. Mention big trees near the line.