When rehabbing a sewer pipe, one of the first decisions you make is whether to use spot repair or end-to-end methods. To help simplify this decision, we’ve designed a Sewer Rehab Strategy Worksheet that helps municipal workers and rehab contractors make quick decisions about which approach to utilize in any given line. Get it now:

When a sewer fails, the solution is seldom cheap or easy. Digging it up can be particularly costly, as well as disruptive to residential customers and road traffic. To avoid this, methods have emerged allowing sewers to be fixed without excavation. These methods are referred to collectively as “trenchless technologies.”

No two sewers pipes are alike. Many differ significantly in terms of size (both diameter and length), pipe material, effluent characteristics, service connections, soil composition and water table. Pipes also fail in different ways: they can crack, leak, settle, erode, corrode and collapse. These failures can be localized, or they can be pervasive. Moreover, the goal of rehabilitation can vary to include:

With over 1000 miles of sewer pipe and 400 miles of storm pipe, the City of Tallahassee’s Underground Utilities and Public Infrastructure Department has been an industry front-runner in establishing a proactive sewer inspection and rehabilitation strategy. “Our Department’s motto is Setting the Standard for Excellence—this motto is engrained in all our work and challenges us to be leaders at what we do,” says Todd Hacker, the Department’s Superintendent. In 2010, the Department bought their first ROVVER system; today they have a total of seven ROVVER and ROVVER X systems. “We like to consider ourselves early adopters—especially when it comes to technology that can make the work we do more efficient and effective,” says Tony Moore, the Department’s Maintenance Construction Chief. “We need first-class technology to help us stay on top of our underground utilities, and our ROVVER X inspection cameras help us do just that.”