Maintaining a Wastewater Collection System

A wastewater collection system requires maintenance to ensures its structural integrity and to ensure that it is free of blockages and obstructions that can adversely impact flow. In order to maintain an underground system it is essential that we are able to inspect the condition of the system in the most efficient and least invasive manner possible.

Sewer Telespection

Technology has provided us with a means of inspecting underground sewer lines that are too small to walk through without digging them up or are too hazardous for people to enter safely. We have television cameras that can be pulled, floated or propel themselves through sewer lines. The cameras we pull are on skids, the floated cameras are on a tethered flotation device, and the self-propelled cameras run on wheels or tracks.

Click on the images below to view larger images:

Telespection Van set up to inspect trunk line sewer	Telespection Supervisor inspecting trunk line sewer	Cues Pan & Tilt Camera on a Mud Master carrier
Controls for the telespection system	Blockage in trunk sewer line	Bore hole damage to 18" trunk sewer line
Bore hole damage to 18" trunk sewer line	Water line bored through bottom of trunk sewer line	Rock obstructing branch sewer line
Rock in branch sewer	Beginning of grease build-up in trunk sewer line	Heavy grease build-up diminishing pipe capacity
Root intrusion in property service connection	Root intrusion in property service connection	Root mass blocking branch sewer line
Root mass growing out of property service connection	Drop Connection	Dye testing line

Sewer Cleaning

Due to the buildup of debris, sedimentation and grease in sewer lines they must be cleaned to ensure maximum usable capacity. There are several methods of cleaning sewer lines, the most effective for smaller diameter lines is with the use of a combination sewer cleaner. This equipment uses high pressure water (front reel with yellow hose) to flush debris back to the downstream manhole where it is vacuumed out (large aqua hose on front of truck and aluminum tubes on side of debris body). As well as flushing debris back to to manhole and vacuuming it out, this piece of equipment has the capability of root cutting with a water pressure driven rotating root cutter head.

When a sewer line becomes blocked by roots or other obstructions the system relieves itself by backing into buildings and overflowing out of manholes. Yes, all that white stuff on the ground in the image above is toilet paper from a sewer that overflowed through the manhole.

Inflow and Infiltration >>

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