24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Pueblo, CO

The East Side, Bessemer, the Grove and the neighborhoods near the steel mill have homes from the 1880s through the 1940s, built for mill workers and their families, mostly with clay tile laterals and many with cellars.

The North Side, around Pueblo's historic mansions and the Mesa Junction area south of downtown, has large Victorian and early 1900s homes with old clay and cast iron sewer lines under very mature trees.

Belmont, near Colorado State University Pueblo, and much of the south side filled in during the 1950s through the 1970s with brick ranches and split-levels, often with clay or cast iron laterals.

Pueblo West and the newer areas on the city's edges were built from the 1970s onward, with PVC drains and, in parts of Pueblo West, septic systems rather than city sewer.

The city sits on a mix of river soils and expansive clay and shale along the Arkansas and Fountain Creek, with a dry, sunny climate and mild winters for Colorado.

Pueblo's Wastewater Department operates the city sewer system and treatment plant, while Pueblo West has its own metropolitan district. In Pueblo, the service line from the home to the public sewer is the property owner's to maintain.

Summer heat and late summer monsoon storms bring the busiest stretch for root clogs, as trees pull hard for water and roots find leaking clay joints.

Pueblo's winters are mild for Colorado, but occasional arctic fronts can freeze exposed drains in garages and crawlspaces.

Bessemer grew up next to the Colorado Fuel and Iron steel works, and for generations the families who worked the mill lived in its small frame and brick houses. Workers came from Italy, Slovenia, Mexico, Croatia and many other places, and the churches, groceries and social halls they built still anchor the neighborhood. The homes are close together on narrow lots, many with cellars and clay tile laterals more than a century old. Roots, cracked pipe and sections that have settled out of line are common findings when the camera goes in.

Pueblo's North Side holds the city's grandest homes, built by mill owners, bankers and merchants in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including the Rosemount Mansion. Mesa Junction, just south of downtown across the Arkansas, was its own streetcar district with brick homes and storefronts. These neighborhoods have old sewer lines under mature trees, and some homes have additions plumbed with cast iron decades ago. Lining or pipe bursting can renew the old pipe without tearing up historic yards and walks.

After World War II, Pueblo spread into Belmont near the university and across the south side with brick ranches, split-levels and modest family homes. Many were plumbed with cast iron inside and clay outside. At sixty to seventy years old, that cast iron can scale and corrode, narrowing the pipe until grease and paper catch, while the clay picks up roots. A camera inspection after clearing the line shows which problem you have and how far it runs.

On a hot August evening, a family in a 1915 frame house on the East Side sees water rising out of the cellar floor drain while the washer runs. There's no cleanout, so the plumber pulls the basement toilet and runs a cable with a root cutter, clearing a thick mat of roots from a big cottonwood about forty-five feet out. The camera shows cracked clay and a sagging section near the alley. The family adds a cleanout that day and gets a quote for pipe bursting.

Parts of Pueblo sit on expansive clay and shale that swell when wet and shrink when dry, while neighborhoods near the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek sit on looser river soil. Both kinds of ground move buried pipe over time. Clay laterals separate at the joints, and lines settle into bellies where waste collects. Repeat clogs in the same spot almost always point to a structural problem that a camera will reveal.

Pueblo West, the large community west of the city, was laid out in the late 1960s and has grown steadily since. Many homes there are on the Pueblo West Metropolitan District's sewer, but others rely on septic systems. A slow drain on septic can mean a full tank or a failing drain field rather than a clog in the house. Tell the plumber which system you have so they bring the right equipment.

Pueblo is famous for its Mirasol green chile, and late summer brings roasting season, big family meals and a lot of cooking. Grease from frying, roasting and holiday cooking is one of the leading causes of kitchen line clogs here. Wiping pans before washing and pouring grease into a can, not down the drain, keeps kitchen lines open through the busy months.

The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk, Union Avenue's historic district and the commercial strips along Northern Avenue, Pueblo Boulevard and Highway 50 hold a long list of restaurants, including the slopper joints and Mexican kitchens Pueblo is known for. Older restaurant buildings often sit on very old sewer lines. Regular interceptor pumping and jetting keep them flowing, especially during the Colorado State Fair and the Chile and Frijoles Festival.

Pueblo is drier and sunnier than Denver, with milder winters, but an arctic front can still drop temperatures below zero for a night or two. Drains in garages, laundry lines on exterior walls and pipes in crawlspaces under older homes freeze first. Insulate exposed pipe, keep garage doors shut and let a faucet drip during the coldest nights.

Share your neighborhood, the home's age and whether it has a cellar, basement or crawlspace. Mention whether there's a cleanout, whether you're on city sewer or septic and whether large trees grow near the sewer path. Say where the water showed up and whether it has happened before.