As technology advances, everything around us gets smarter, from refrigerators that can text you a picture of their contents to alarm clocks that track your sleep cycles to wake you up at the perfect time. Sewer inspection crawlers are getting smarter too, using digital technologies like CANbus to extend their capabilities, deliver greater intelligence and functionality, consume fewer resources, and allow for a more customizable, upgradeable sewer inspection system.

When evaluating a sewer inspection crawler, it’s important to determine how well it adapts to different challenges—both current and anticipated. To make this determination, it helps to look at whether the crawler was designed as a standalone system or a modular platform. A standalone system is one which serves a narrow purpose; it does one kind of inspection (CCTV, SAT, side scanning, laser profiling, etc.) within a limited range of applications (combinations of line size, condition and material). So for instance, if you buy a CCTV inspection crawler to do mainline inspection, and you later want to expand into lateral launch inspections, your only option is to buy a new, separate crawler system: crawler, reel, controls, and truck.

Settle in this December with our Holiday Reading List, a round-up of informative white papers to give you a running start come the new year. Plus, give your crawler some love and request a FREE 2017 Crawler Maintenance Logbook.

Gas line cross bores can pose an immense risk to the people living and working nearby. These can linger underground, undetected until a sewer backup demands attention. Attempting to clean through one of these cross bores can rupture the gas line, leaking gas into homes and businesses, risking a potentially deadly explosion.

A growing number of municipalities and gas utilities are implementing cross bore inspection programs to locate and eliminate risky cross bores before a worst case scenario occurs. With this comes a growing need for contractors capable of inspecting sewer laterals. The few contractors who do perform these services are often inundated with large projects and unable to meet the demand. Sewer inspection contractors have the opportunity to leverage their position and, with the right sewer inspection camera and retrofit, take advantage of these lucrative contracts.

Nicknamed the Star City of the South, Roanoke, Virginia has a population of just under 100,000 and 43 square miles of land. The Roanoke River flows through the City and serves as one of its main water sources; some stretches meander through parks and natural settings, while others flow through industrial areas. In 2014, the Roanoke Stormwater Utility was formed to help protect the River’s water quality by controlling and eliminating stormwater pollution from municipal storm sewer systems, construction sites and industrial activities.

Stormwater pollution impacts water quality, public health and the local economy of the communities we live and serve in. Ensuring that municipal and state water systems are clean and well-maintained is a major part of protecting the communities we inhabit and building a sustainable, long-term solution to stormwater pollution. In a new guide, the Environmental Protection Agency asserts, “early and effective stormwater planning and management by communities as they develop will provide significant long-term cost savings while supporting resilience, economic growth and quality of life.”

Situated 20 miles north of Detroit, the City of Troy, Michigan is no stranger to awards and accolades. In fact, just last year the City was recognized as a leader in sustainability, and as one of the safest cities in the United States—among 11 other awards. The City and its employees take pride in being proactive and ahead of the curve—and with 2.3 million feet of sewer pipe, they have no choice but to be.

A little over two years ago, the staff at City of Concord faced a predicament: should they continue to use a system that was increasingly unreliable, couldn’t fit in 60% of their pipes, and was becoming more and more expensive to repair—or should they cut their losses and invest in another system? “Our inspection needs kept growing and our old system could never keep up,” says Jim Stearns, Camera Operator at the City of Concord. “When Pete Carlson of Haaker Equipment started demoing the ROVVER X, it was as if it was made for our sewer system.”

A plane, a crawler, and a will to succeed in Hawaii.

Allens Plumbing is a residential and commercial plumbing service contractor in Hawaii. Founded on Maui in 1982 by Steve Allen, the original one-man operation enjoys steady growth with operations in both Maui and Oahu. Today, the company has over 35 employees and revenues upwards of $6 million.

Dam Versatile: ROVVER X Performs an Inspection that Scares Away Most Contractors.