Kamloops and the Thompson Valley
Lost item and pet retrieval from pipes in Kamloops
Lost item and pet retrieval starts with the sewer camera. It shows what went down the pipe and exactly where it stopped, before anyone opens a pipe or digs. It is also how a kitten came back up out of a Kamloops pipe in 2018.
- Homeowners
- Pet owners
- Businesses
- Anyone who dropped something valuable
A Groess Underground does lost item and pet retrieval on residential, commercial and industrial lines in Kamloops, Sun Peaks, Chase, Barriere, Cache Creek, Merritt and the Shuswap. Book by phone on 250-377-5364, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Emergency call-outs run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Stop the water first
If a ring, a phone or a set of dentures has just gone down a drain, stop running water in that line. Every flush and every tap carries it further from the fixture and closer to the main, where it is harder to reach.
If it is an animal, keep the area quiet, keep other pets away, and do not pour anything down the pipe. Then call 250-377-5364, any hour.
How the camera finds it
The same equipment that inspects a sewer line does the searching. Nobody has to guess where to open anything.
Find
The push camera runs down the line and shows what is there, how far along, and what it is sitting in.
Mark
If the only way to reach it is from outside the pipe, the locator marks the spot and depth on the surface, so any opening is made once, in the right place.
Bring it up
Whether it comes back depends on where it stopped and what it is. The camera answers that before anyone promises anything.
The kitten in the pipe
In July 2018 a kitten was trapped in an underground pipe in Kamloops. Dan and his seven-year-old daughter tied a T-shirt to the sewer camera, lowered it down the pipe, and the kitten climbed on and was brought back up.
A month later the family adopted him. His name is Midnight, he still lives with the Groess family, and he is the black cat at the Sewer Hero's feet in the A Groess Underground drawing.
The rescue ran on CBC, Global News and the Canadian Press, and travelled as far as Yahoo News in Australia.
In the news
What other people have written. Their headlines, not ours.
Amewzing rescue: plumber and daughter save Kamloops kitten stuck in pipe
Dan and his seven-year-old daughter lowered the sewer camera down a pipe with a T-shirt tied to it, and the kitten climbed on. The family adopted him a month later.
Also covered by Global News, Castanet, CFJC Today, iNFOnews, Vancouver Is Awesome, Yahoo News.
Dentures to deodorant: How a Kamloops Sewer Hero deals with what's flushed
A feature interview with Dan on what ends up in Kamloops sewer lines, why flushable wipes cause backups, and the time a customer got his dentures back.
Questions about lost item and pet retrieval
Can you get my ring or phone back from a drain?
The first answer is where it is, and the camera gives that. Something caught close to the fixture is a very different job from something that has reached the main. Stop running water in that line and call 250-377-5364.
Is a pet stuck in a pipe an emergency call?
Yes. Emergency call-outs run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on 250-377-5364.
What happened to the kitten?
The Groess family adopted him a month after the rescue. His name is Midnight, and he still lives with them.
Will the pipe have to be opened?
Not as a first step. The camera shows whether the item can be reached from an access point. If it can only be reached by opening the line, the locator marks the exact spot so that work happens once, in the right place.
Where this work happens
Kamloops, Chase, Barriere, Cache Creek, Shuswap, Merritt and all points in between.
Related work
Sewer & drain camera inspection
A sewer camera inspection, also called a drain camera inspection or a sewer scope, shows the inside of a buried sewer or drain line on video. A camera on a push rod runs the length of the line and shows you what is actually in there. Guessing about a buried pipe is how people end up paying for the wrong repair.
Sewer line locating
Sewer line locating marks on the ground where a buried sewer line runs, how deep it sits, and exactly where the problem is. A sonde in the camera head puts a signal in the pipe, and the locator finds that signal from the surface.
Drain cleaning
Drain cleaning clears a clogged drain or a blocked sewer line and gets it running again. The question that matters is how: a drain snake gets a line open, hydro jetting gets it clean, and the camera shows which one the line needed.
Get in touch
Talk to the person doing the work
Call 250-377-5364 and describe what the line is doing. Most of the time that conversation settles whether this is the right service before anyone books a truck.
Emergency service call-outs available 24/7. If it is backing up right now, call rather than emailing.
Ask for a quote
Call and tell us what the line is doing and where the property is. Prefer email? Send the details and a photo if you have one.
Email office@agroessunderground.ca
Sewage in the building right now? Call, any hour.