Root killer prevents intrusion inside and outside sewer pipes

Root killer prevents intrusion inside and outside sewer pipes
oblitiroot root killer

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Oblitiroot sewer line foaming root killer from Olvidium prevents root intrusion and stops root growth inside and outside pipes. The EPA-approved root killer contains dichlobenil as its active ingredient and won’t foam until mixed, enabling its use in toilet bowls without the potential for overflow damage to tile or carpet.

“We made this so it won’t foam until it’s stirred, and it foams very slowly so you shouldn’t have an accident,” says Tim “Toby” Tobiason, product inventor and vice president of marketing and sales for Olvidium.

Oblitiroot contains a glue base that adheres to pipe surfaces, providing maximum effectiveness over an extended period of time.

“If you put any root killer down the line, including, at the start, this one, nearly 99 percent of it would drain away,” he says. “We made this stickier and stickier during our preliminary tests and we got it so that if you put it in the toilet bowl, about 10 percent would stay in the sewer line.”

Tobiason says he was able to further increase the retention rate by using a cable and cloth to apply the chemical.

“You dip the cloth fitting in the bucket of foam and send it down the sewer line, pouring the foam behind it. All this foam that would have been wasted and drained away hits the cable and stops,” he says. “The water runs underneath it, then as you retract the cable it picks up the foam and puts it on as a coating of paint.”

The cable-foam method also pushes the root killer into the joints of the pipe, creating a protective barrier against further intrusion.

“When you get that much root killer in the joints it solidifies and makes what looks like a piece of soft rubber,” Tobiason says. “As long as that soft rubber is there with the dichlobenil in it, no roots will ever grow in there. In fact, no roots will grow within 3 to 4 inches of it. So if you’re going in blind and you can’t see what’s going on with a camera, the cable coating still lets you get the root killer pretty much everywhere and on everything.”

Dichlobenil’s vapor action stops root growth up to approximately 20 feet away, he says. When used in California orchards, the herbicide prevents shallow-rooted plants, such as grass, from growing without harming the deep-rooted fruit trees.

“If you get enough of our root killer in the first two feet of a sewer line, it can stop roots from growing up to 50 feet away because of the vapor,” Tobiason says. “We anticipate that rubbery coating will stay there for up to two years, maybe more. If you get a lot in the joints, it should last up to five years.”

A third form of application involves identifying root blockage inside a pipe and boring a 2-inch hole to the pipe joint and saturating it with root killer. “As this solidifies on the outside of the pipe, no roots can grow in anymore,” he says. “With a 2-inch tube down there, all you have to do is reload it every few years. We also came up with the idea of a microchip to beep you each time it needs more root killer.”

The root killer is available in three sizes: 1.6-pound bottle for 4-inch by 100-foot lines, 2.4-pound bottle for 6-inch by 100-foot lines, and 9.5-pound jug (approximately one gallon) for 8-inch by 100-foot lines. 877/747-3071; www.olvidium.com.



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