“We experience significant downtime due to freezing temperatures,” says Matt Brideau, City of Red Deer’s Wastewater Collections Lead Operator. “We don’t run our equipment during freezing conditions—giving us an average of only eight productive months out of the year.” Furthermore, the wastewater maintenance crew can’t plan for downtime because it’s hard to anticipate when the weather will turn. But that doesn’t prevent them from protecting their infrastructure—they have a job and they strive to do it well. The crew has found efficiency and productivity in two programs: one that helps them assess their sewer infrastructure quicker, and another that maximizes equipment uptime.
The City of Red Deer’s wastewater maintenance crew has employed a similar program to Envirosight’s Phased Assessment Strategy for Sewers. The crew first uses acoustic technology to assess and score sewer pipes throughout a sub-division. Depending on the overall condition, the crew will use a Quickview zoom assessment camera to visually determine what problems lie within the pipes. “We can quickly assess whether the problems within the lines are due to debris, roots or encrustation, and figure out which nozzle will best work when cleaning the line,” says Engler. Sewer lines don’t need to be cleaned before a zoom camera survey, and therefore can be assessed quickly by a single operator. Understanding the issues right away allows Engler to choose the appropriate tool and clean the line effectively. After cleaning, he sends out a ROVVER X sewer inspection crawler to do an in-depth inspection. “The ROVVER X is irreplaceable in helping us understand the condition of our sewer infrastructure. The steps we take beforehand ensure that we are maximizing our effectiveness and efficiency by deploying our ROVVER X only where it’s warranted,” says Engler.
“Being able to prioritize lines has helped us focus on problem areas and save time and money in lines where a full-CCTV inspection is unnecessary,” says Brideau. “For decades the wastewater industry has relied on CCTV sewer inspection cameras to inspect all lines, but we live in a time when newer technology can help our crews run more effectively and efficiently. Tools like the Quickview help us concentrate our resources and bandwidth on our most problematic sections."
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A sewer inspection crew’s productivity and efficiency is at the mercy of the tools and equipment they have. Up-to-date technology not only ensures maximum uptime, it can also support new workflows designed to tackle increasing workloads. Envirosight’s Phased Assessment Strategy for Sewers (PASS) offers a similar workflow to help municipalities build out a more effective and efficient inspection and cleaning program. Learn more about PASS in our free whitepaper: