Sanitary sewers carry wastewater 24 hours a day, year after year. Buried below streets and highways, sanitary sewer infrastructure systems are hidden municipal assets that need to be maintained in order to function. All sewers are engineered to provide many years of service, with a design life up to 75 years in some cases.
In some areas, wastewater flow has increased with population & building expansion. Rainwater in some areas add to the flow (combined sewer systems) causing surcharging that results in flooding damage to property owners.
Neglected sewer line maintenance can result in the buildup of grease deposits, root infiltration, dirt and debris deposits - all of which constrict flow & reduce capacity.
Advanced Pipe Inspection was founded on inspecting sewers to ascertain the internal pipe conditions. As the video clip below shows, a CCTV camera traveling through a grease covered sewer line only proves the presence of grease, with enough grease to prevent the full inspection from manhole to manhole. The last half of the video clip shows the pipe after cleaning – displaying the structural condition within the pipe. The concept of inspecting a sewer line to prove that cleaning is required is outmoded; pre-cleaning the sewer line is now standard operating procedure. CCTV inspection of a cleaned pipe shows the true internal condition of a pipe, with structural defects (cracks, fractures, off-set joints, roots) clearly visible. Data collected from sewer inspections provide municipal officials and engineers with detailed information for future maintenance projects.
For municipal sewer cleaning, API utilizes three combination machines (high pressure jetting unit with vacuum capabilities) and a truck mounted high pressure jetting unit. Two of the combination machines are equipped with high volume - high pressure jetting units capable of producing pressures up to 2000 PSI @ 125 gallons per minute. One combination machine and the high pressure jetting truck produce 2,000 PSI at 80 GPM.
Each sewer cleaning unit is equipped with specialized nozzles to get maximum cleaning performance from each unit. Heavy, bottom riding nozzles are used to direct all water towards the bottom of the pipe. Nozzles with forward firing jets are used to open clogged sewer lines. Rotating or spinning nozzles are used to remove heavy root growths or soap-grease deposits from sewer lines. Special nozzles increase work productivity all high pressure jetting units.
Pipe cleaning is essential for trouble-free wastewater collection systems. Clean pipes are required for CCTV inspection surveys. Inspections should never be performed to determine if sewer pipes need to be cleaned, inspections should be performed to determine the internal structural condition of sewers. Pre-cleaning pipes removes dirt, debris, roots, soap and grease that can hide structural defects from the camera.
Working in conjunction with Advanced Pipe Inspection’s CCTV units, municipalities receive recorded video inspection DVD’s accompanied with detailed reports of cleaned sewer pipe lines. In addition to paper reports, report information is provided in database format to be uploaded to any computer system.
Advanced Pipe Inspection equipment is available for emergency service and day work.
