A Different View

Like many other communities Wellsville has its share of aging infrastructure problems that stem from things just simply wearing out. Our sewage system pipe lines are a prime example. The majority of the sewage lines in the ground are ones originally put in place. They're made of vitrified clay that was used extensively in the days before plastic. The connecting joints were susceptible to tree roots working their way into the pipes looking for a source of water. It doesn't take long to clog a sewer line once that happens. Many of the ville's residents have had this particular problem over the years. This is just one example of what can happen with the old clay pipelines.

With a list of 26 problem areas supplied by United Water personnel, a Chester, WV, & Wellsville company was recently awarded a contract to find out what exactly is causing those sewer line problems. United Water is the company that operates our Sewage Treatment Plant. They use Village equipment to handle problems the best they can. However, that available equipment limits what they can handle. It boils down to the Village not being able to afford new and better equipment to thoroughly handle the job. It is extremely expensive.

United Water's list of problem areas was started in 2001 and turned over to Village officials. That list is for areas that the plant operators were repeatedly called back to unclog blocked sewers. Village officials decided it was time to see if it could be determined just what causes those persistent problems.

Armed with some of the latest technology to detect sewer line problems LSW Sanitation was contracted to investigate the Wellsville lines. Using a machine called Envirosight Rovver 5.0 they can lower a tethered camera into the lines and monitor what can be seen on a computer screen. The equipment was purchased from A&H Equipment from Bridgeville, PA. A&H is a distributor of construction and municipal equipment.

The camera is called the "crawler". It is a six wheeled thing that can be rotated in all directions both in water and nearly dry lines. It is operated by a hand held controller and the actual picture is shown on a computer monitor. The program for the machinery records the pictures, distances and the degree of the incline the camera is sitting. It tells the operator if the line is going uphill, downhill or on a level surface.

The picture shown above with "Toshiba" on the bottom is 35' 03" into the sewer line under Mulberry Alley between 7th & 8th St. That location is behind the doctor's office at 7th & Main. The crawler is in an 8" diameter sewer line. The opening on the right is a 4" residential sewer feeding into the 8" line. For some reason the water is backing up as shown in this picture indicating some sort of blockage in the line.

In this instance United Water will try to open any blockage with the router machine they have. One problem faced by the Village is that they don't have the equipment to clean out the lines. A machine is needed to pull the grit collecting in the bottom of the sewer line back to the manhole and then vacuumed out.

Before there was such equipment like the Envirosight the only way to spot problems was to go into the manhole and eyeball the line with a light or dig up the street. The LSW operators are all certified for both pipeline & man hole assessment. They even had to go through training for program used on the computer.

At the end of each day reports are printed and given to both Village officials and United Water personnel. When completed everything will be evaluated for future grant applications to update the system. Pictured above are members of the LSW crew and some of the equipment used. LSW now has an office located in the village at 309 9th St. That's in the old McDonald School building. There's even a hint there may be some more exciting news in the near future for that building.

Their equipment gives you quite a different view on how the system works.

ole nib