When’s the best time to clear your drains? Now, and as soon as possible.

The whole of New Zealand is getting used to bouts of unseasonable and fairly extreme weather. That means preparing ourselves for heavy rain in Winter, heavy rain in Summer, and heavy rain in every season in between.

If your land is being bombarded with heavy rain and rising water levels, you need to be sure you have the right measures in place to allow water to drain away with the minimum amount of damage. If you’re investing in drainage, pipes and culverts to move water where you want it to go; you also need to invest in keeping those pipes and drains clear and flowing.

We caught up with Jonty, the key point of contact at Allways Hire for customers who want to hire Master Machinery from anywhere across New Zealand. He’s been on the road plenty, demonstrating how well Master Machinery works and the value it offers customers from the top of Northland to the bottom of South Island.

We asked Jonty what he thinks of the Master Water Carts and Jetters, and where they’re adding most value for our customers.

Regular pipe and culvert maintenance keeps the water flowing

Jonty works a lot with businesses who are helping farmers, councils and other companies maintain the drainage on their land. The Master Water Jetters (2000L and 4000L) offer a high powered jetter function that blasts pipes clean and washes the interior of the pipe – removing build up and allowing water in the pipe to flow at full capacity. Jonty explains the benefits and how he demonstrates them:

“Part of my role is going out around the country showing customers our Master range of… equipment and that includes our water trailer…and range of water carts.

Clearing out drains is really important for farmers and anyone with blocked culverts. Large volumes of rain, like the recent weather events we’ve had, the drains get blocked and overflow, causing big washouts. Maintenance and repair bills for this increases tenfold.”

It’s cheaper to maintain than repair

It’s fairly straightforward for Jonty to demonstrate how significant the savings can be when you’re comparing the cost of hiring a Jetter to the cost of dealing with flooding and damage caused by blocked pipes and culverts. Jonty has great success demonstrating how effective the Water Jetter is at keeping pipes clear and water flowing.

He’s also not afraid to get his hands dirty if there’s an opportunity for a hands-on demonstration. In fact, when we interviewed him he’d just been unblocking a culvert to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Water Jetter.

The Master Water Jetter being used on a dairy farm to clear a blocked culvert.

“So we turned up on site today and we had a blocked culvert and a drain that needed to be cleared. So after quick work with the 2T digger, we had the drain clear and we got the [water] trailer in place, got the drain rat on the end of the hose, and we basically got the hose up there working out. We had no issues, and as you pull it back it clears itself out and it was pretty much a straight forward job.”

The best tool for a drainage maintenance job

Build up of gravel, roots, rubbish, silt – all of these things can reduce the water carrying capacity of a pipe. Regular maintenance with a Water Jetter removes build up and keeps pipes flowing at full capacity. We asked Jonty what kind of feedback he’s been getting from customers on the Master Water Jetters.

“So I’ve been out around the country talking to lots of different customers that have used this machine and they’ve all been saying the same thing; this trailer is highly effective and very efficient. Easy to bring on site with your ute or your maintenance vehicle and you can get a lot of jobs done with this one unit.

This [2000L Master Water] trailer we’ve put together is a really unique piece of kit. It’s got everything that a civil or maintenance crew needs. It’s got the low pressure pump which has got a wash down hose and a dust suppression unit nozzle and then it’s also got a high pressure water blaster system that is 3500 psi, 30 litres a minute and that can work as a high performance water blaster or really good at clearing small culverts up to 300mm.

The thing with this, it’s really easy to get on site and get it working. You can literally pull up, pull out the hose, electric start on the Honda motor we’ve got on there, and you turn on the water, you’re good to go. You don’t have to have a large amount of trucks and licenses, you tow it behind your ute or your maintenance vehicle, you’re on site and ready to go quickly.”

Ask for the Master Water Jetter if you have pipes to clear

If you’re wondering when the right time is to clear your drains: the answer is now.

The Master Water Jetter comes in a 2000L model on a trailer, and a 4000L Water Jetter that’s mounted on a Skid Tank to load onto a truck. Both models come equipped with extra long hoses, jetting nozzles, and high water pressure.

Whether you’re a civil company, farmer or a civil contractor: you’re going to benefit from hiring the Master Water Jetter to clear your pipes and culverts. Contact Jonty today by email at jonty@allwayshire.co.nz or on 021 537 460. He’ll be happy to talk to you about hire options wherever you’re based in New Zealand.