It’s not every day you hear of woman-owned companies in the wastewater industry with a workforce comprised mostly of firemen.

The new ROVVER X SAT II lateral launch crawler allows Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority (PWSA) to traverse steep pipe inclines with ease, which previously posed challenges for the team.

Ground Penetrating Radar Systems (GPRS) started like most construction service companies: relatively small, based out of a single region, providing services just to customers within reach, and with high hopes of growing over time. 

In just three years, private contracting company, Atlantic Pipe Services (APS), turned its two-person team to a staff of 64. President of the company, Allan Cagle, says that growth and success can be attributed to two things: investing in high-performance equipment and a crew selectively hired to align with their vision.

Utility locating work runs deep in Jake Mason’s blood. Now the President of Indiana-based, Mason Private Locating company (MPL), Jake Mason has been surrounded by this type of work since he was a child.

There’s no short list of factors that make TREKK Design Group a one-of-a-kind business in the wastewater industry.

The city of Bedford, Indiana—known as the “Limestone Capital of the World”—has a population of fewer than 14,000 people. Though small, it has taken big steps in recent years to gain the upper hand over its sewer and stormwater systems. 

Working long days to keep the sewer mains clean and running has become a tradition for one Southern California family. Their company, Houston & Harris, first opened its doors 31 years ago by offering services for underground inspection and cleaning. And while many things have changed over three decades of business—including new technologies to complete the work—its core mission and family-centric character have remained the same. 

Like many communities in the state of Oregon, the City of Tigard has seen major and consistent growth in recent years. With an annual population growth rate of 2.67% in 2017—a trend that’s only projected to continue—the city has had to take a step back and reassess how it manages its sewer maintenance operations, among other processes, to keep up with the increase in demand.

Located just an hour north of Seattle, Lake Stevens Sewer District is home to approximately 32,000 people and 13,600 sewer connections. For nearly six decades, the District contracted out its service and CCTV inspection needs, but once its leadership did the math, they found that this process was costing the department as much as $2,000 a day. In 2016, Lake Stevens decided to remedy the problem and move inspection operations in-house, and to purchase its own sewer inspection equipment. Not only would the solution be cost-effective, but it would also give the organization more control over the scheduling, prioritization and long-term planning of its sewer maintenance.