Sewer

The Texas Water Development Board approves financial aid

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved financial assistance loans totaling $29,382,800 as follows:

The Development Of St. Petersburg’s Water Resources Department Succession Plan

Around 2005, many utilities across the country were aware of the statistical data indicating that as the baby boomer generation reached retirement, there would be a substantial number of employees with many years of experience and expertise departing the workforce.

Remote Inspection Equipment: Product Focus

Remote inspection equipment from CUES, Radiodetection, Aries Industries, Envirosight, Pearpoint, RapidView, Ratech Electronics, RedZone Robotics and R.S. Technical Services.

Five-year plan to replace Pittsburg, KS water lines

In June, a five-year water line replacement project for the city of Pittsburg, KS, was presented to city commissioners by John Bailey, public utilities director. The cost to replace the city’s 100-year old water lines and hydrants is expected to be at least $250,000 annually.

IPR, EcoCast Thwart Threat Of Sewer Collapse

The threat that a large, severely deteriorated Houston sewer line could cause the collapse of a road at the intersection of a major highway was averted by a timely trenchless rehabilitation project.

City Of Houston Approves Wastewater Rehab System

Southern Trenchless’ Manhole Mortar structural repair product system is now approved for use by the city of Houston’s Public Works and Engineering Department.

Europe’s 2012 gravity pipe usage studied

According to a newly completed market study by Applied Market Information Ltd. (AMI Consulting), in 2012, the total volume of plastic raw materials used in the production of pipes in Europe will exceed 1.9 million tonnes. The total value of the European gravity pipes market is estimated at circa EUR 6.5 billion.

14th Annual Horizontal Directional Drilling Survey: Telecom, Energy Drive Market, But Is It Sustainable?

Depending upon where you are located and what niche drives your business, the horizontal directional drilling market for 2012 is a mix of strong, mediocre and stagnant. But where business is good, it is very, very good.

Houston gets loan approval for wastewater system upgrades

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved by resolution a loan in the amount of $48,750,000 from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to the city of Houston (Harris County) to finance the construction of wastewater system improvements.

Laney Directional Drilling Record Crossing

Laney Directional Drilling Co., a leading provider of horizontal directional drilling services to the energy, telecommunications and infrastructure sectors, announced that it has successfully completed the horizontal directional drill (HDD) installation of nearly 11,000 feet of 6-inch steel gas pipeline in one pull under Lake Houston.

Palo Alto Institutes Pro-Active Plan To Locate, Correct Crossbores

As crossbores continue to cause concern and controversy across the United States, the city of Palo Alto, CA, is taking a pro-active approach to find gas lines that have penetrated sewer laterals during installation by horizontal directional drilling (HDD), and to correct the problem before a costly and dangerous accident can occur.

Unique Solution To Manhole Installations In Busy Chicago Intersections

DiPaolo Construction, of Calumet City, IL, recently completed a $14 million underground utility project to install personnel access manhole structures over an existing combined storm/sanitary sewer line in the South Chicago community of Hegewisch.

Downhole Directional Drilling Tools: Equipment Spotlight

Downhole tools from Ballantine, Vermeer, American Augers, Armadrillco, Melfred Borzall, INROCK, Railhead Underground Products, Sharewell, HammerHead Trenchless Equipment, Ditch Witch and Drillhead Directional.

Underwater Sewer Pipe Inspection

In 2011, Interactive Pipe Inspection (IPI) completed inspection of more than 50,000 feet of 30- and 48-inch diameter sanitary sewer lines for King County, WA. What sets the project apart from routine pipeline inspections is that the sewer lines were underwater in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.

Indy’s Water/Sewer Ownership Shift Proceeds Smoothly

It’s been more than six months since operation and ownership of water and sanitary sewer services in Indianapolis transferred from the city to a non-profit charitable trust, but most residential and commercial customers likely have experienced no difference in the day-to-day operation of these services.

Wichita gets grant for storm sewer project

EPA has awarded $123,000 to the city of Wichita, KS, for improvements to its storm sewer system. The project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2012.

U.S. Clean Water Act settlement in Chicago to reduce sewage overflows

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the state of Illinois announced a Clean Water Act (CWA) settlement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to resolve claims that untreated sewer discharges were released into Chicago area waterways during flood and wet weather events.

Fingers Crossed: 15th Annual Municipal Survey

After several years of the Great Recession, America’s underground infrastructure – already stretched thin before the economic crash – is rapidly approaching crisis levels, say city respondents to the 15th Annual Underground Construction Municipal Sewer & Water Survey. However, a majority of the survey participants believe that their city’s financial woes bottomed out in 2011 and anticipate the beginning of a slow turnaround late in 2012.

Surviving An Exceptional Funding Drought

As last summer’s drought conditions wore on, I learned that there is a condition even worse than “extreme.” There is an “exceptional” drought category, which essentially means “pending devastation if you don’t get rain fast.” The impact of this drought, when finally broken, will be felt for years.

Rule Changes, Proposals Could Prove Significant For 2012 Underground Market

The One-Call and excavation damage provisions included in the new pipeline safety bill passed by Congress in December will trigger a number of state and federal responses in 2012. However, a rule allowing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to impose civil penalties on excavators -- ordered by the 2006 pipeline safety bill but never finalized -- would be even more significant. A proposed rule moving that requirement forward is expected this year, finally, perhaps as early as this winter.

Conference of Mayors touts local government efforts to spur broadband

The U.S. Conference of Mayors with other national associations has filed joint Reply Comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), stating that local wireless citing and right-of-way management and compensation practices are not delaying broadband deployment.

Upgrade water system, create nearly 1.9 million jobs

Want to create nearly 1.9 million American jobs and add $265 billion to the economy? Upgrade our water and wastewater infrastructure. That’s the message of a new report released by Green For All, in partnership with American Rivers, the Economic Policy Institute and the Pacific Institute. The Rockefeller Foundation generously provided funding for the project.

Design Approach, Inspection For Manhole Rehabilitation Technologies

The design of manhole coating and lining systems must take into consideration a number of conditions in the manhole, both as a whole and as individual components. When evaluating the nature of the coating or lining that will work best, a number of conditions should be defined.

Houston Approved For Wastewater Systems Upgrades

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved a $49.9 million loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to the city of Houston (Harris County) to finance wastewater system improvements.

St. Louis To Pay $4.7B For Sewer Upgrades

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) signed a consent decree on Aug. 5 with regulators and environmentalists to make extensive improvements to its sewer systems and treatment plants, at an estimated cost of $4.7 billion over 23 years.

What Is Necessary For Manhole Rehabilitation Success? Correct Application, Use Of Manhole Rehab Technologies

Manholes consist of multiple components and are made of different materials, each serving a different purpose but contributing to the complete manhole structure. Each component typically has its own set of defects and deterioration mechanisms.

Atlanta gets A1 rating on water/wastewater bonds

Moody's Investors Service, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies, affirmed in July Atlanta, GA’s A1 rating on the city’s $3.2 billion water and wastewater revenue bonds.

Jersey City to upgrade sewer system

The Jersey City, NJ, Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA) will spend more than $52 million on sewer repairs and upgrades and pay a civil penalty of $375,000 after repeated violations of the Clean Water Act, according to a settlement with the federal government.

County approves wastewater tunnel

On July 14, the Johnson County, KS, Board of Commissioners authorized construction of an underground effluent pipe between the treatment plant to a discharge point on the river.

Jefferson County seeks better deal to settle debt

In an effort to avoid filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, officials in Alabama’s Jefferson County extended until mid-September talks with creditors holding $3.14 billion in debt incurred after officials borrowed money to fix their troubled sewer system and then entered into a number of complicated and corruption-laced refinancing deals that backfired in 2007 with the mortgage lending crisis. Those schemes also resulted in the conviction of a number of local officials and businessmen.