Most often, water and wastewater utilities operate using a separate budget from the municipality’s general budget. And that budget is typically divided between operation and maintenance (O&M) and capital spending, with a higher portion of funds used for O&M, according to a 2020 municipal water and wastewater infrastructure funding study by H2O Insights. 

The state of Pennsylvania and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were placing intense pressure on Montgomery and Muncy boroughs, forcing them to make major changes and improvements to their aging and failing sewer infrastructure. 

When asked as a kid what you wanted to be when you grew up, you might’ve said an astronaut, maybe a professional baseball player or a teacher. You probably didn’t say you wanted to work around wastewater. 

Sewer systems and septic systems serve the same general purpose: providing a means for disposal of wastewater from homes and buildings to protect communities and ensure water quality. Both systems filter out black water and gray water, as well as bacteria and pathogens before the water is reintroduced into the environment.

In addition to testing individuals for COVID-19 exposure during the pandemic, researchers across the globe have identified other means for tracking its spread—including through wastewater. 

Cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) can serve as a seemingly brand new liner and restore a pipe’s structural integrity, but things can still go wrong after it’s been installed. And the only way to find that out before severe damage ensues is through a visual inspection. 

By simple definition, wastewater is water that’s been used. Wastewater originates from both residential and commercial sources, including toilets, sinks, showers, bathtubs, washing machines and dishwashers.

Sewer inspection vehicles give contractors and municipalities a simplified means for taking inspection equipment with them on the road. They help broaden a department’s capabilities and increase productivity, offering a centralized way to store and deploy equipment from anywhere.

Many people walk over them everyday without noticing. But the colorful paint marking buried utilities underneath sidewalks and roads is essential to public safety, real estate development and infrastructure management.