Sewers & Sewer Line Maintenance Resources

  1. The Contractor's Song: Building Pipelines In Rock! 10/6/2021

    This month our topic fits in well with a whole genre of music and it was hard to pick just one song to weave into this column, so I didn’t. The hits just kept coming to mind so consider this discussion of building pipelines in rock to be an homage to all things rock and roll!

  2. House Committee Makes Down Payment On Clean Water Needs 9/16/2021

    The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is moving forward with a measure that would invest $3.7 billion in critical wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. These resources will help communities across the country struggling with sewage spills, inadequate sanitation, and destructive urban flooding.

  3. WWEMA Window: Governmental Policy And The Impacts On Construction Costs 8/23/2021

    There are a few current governmental policies that have impacted the construction cost of water and wastewater infrastructure over the last several years. Some are older policies that were established many years ago and some are newer policies that were implemented to help U.S. manufacturers compete in these markets against foreign manufacturers. There is some discussion now in Washington to implement more policies such as $15 minimum wage and revisions to the Made in America requirements for purchases using federal money, both direct and indirect.

  4. Is Water Odor A Challenge? 8/17/2021

    Turning your water tap on only to be encountered by a terrible stench is arguably one of the worst ways to start your day. Your immediate reaction may be to assume that your water supply is contaminated, but there are myriad reasons why your household water has suddenly developed a pungent odor.

  5. Large Florida Utility Saving Money Through Innovation 7/6/2021

    After spending decades and millions of dollars rehabilitating sewer pipes across its service area, a large coastal utility embarked on a pilot pipe condition assessment program for 25,000 linear feet in areas prone to high unwanted infiltration rates.

  6. Standards For Testing And Certifying Cured-In-Place Pipe 6/23/2021

    It is estimated that nearly 75,000 miles of wastewater and water pipelines have been lined with Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP), with nearly $3 billion spent annually on the trenchless renovation method, worldwide. Recognizing the growing use of CIPP and inability of CCTV inspection to accurately or consistently certify trenchless rehabilitation as defect-free, this paper chronicles the emergence of new guidelines to test, certify, and accept CIPP lining projects, using Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspection.

  7. Use Of Low Voltage Conductivity To Conduct A 10km Inspection Of Legacy Cured-In-Place Pipe For A Leak Assessment Project 6/23/2021

    In 2017, the Institute of Underground Infrastructure (IKT), Gelsenkirchen, Germany, utilized low voltage conductivity to test a variety of trenchless Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) short-liners to locate and quantify leaks, several of which were utilized in a multi-million rehabilitation project in Kansas City, Missouri (USA).

  8. Sydney Water Trial Project Using Low Voltage Conductivity To Assess Sewer Pipe Water Tightness 6/22/2021

    Worldwide water utilities and smart cities are adopting new technologies to replace legacy technologies that have been the mainstay to assess existing pipe conditions and accept new installations as watertight. This white paper includes a detail review of existing assessment techniques, project findings, technology overview, and field results fom each project area included as part of Sydney Water’s trial project evaluation of FELL technology.

  9. Sarasota Gets A 'Lift' In Fight Against Sewage Leaks 5/11/2021

    Sewage spills in Florida are frequent. A newspaper report in 2019 found deteriorating sewers released 1.6 billion gallons of wastewater within a decade in communities throughout the state. Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, and even tony Boca Raton, labeled the “Beverly Hills of Florida” with its yacht clubs and fancy restaurants, were among the regions impacted by failing systems.

  10. Rust Is A Slow Poison 5/6/2021

    With the escalating call for water wells across the globe, much of it driven by the increasing use of water-well water in agriculture and construction, water-well drilling is now an $85-billion industry.