02-22-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Bill Dircks, Public Works Director DATE: February 16, 2017 RE: Purchase of Used Sewer Camera Trailer Unit The City’s Public Works Department maintains the sanitary sewer system, which consists of around 36 miles of pipe and hundreds of manholes. Part of our agreement with the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust is that we will inspect and clean our entire system every three years. Following that schedule is deemed to be reasonable maintenance and helps us prevent blockages, which, in turn, prevents costly litigation from sewage backups into homes and businesses. In the past the City has utilized a jetting machine of some sort to clean the pipes. Currently, a Vactor combination jetter/vacuum truck is used. The truck has been an excellent addition to the City’s fleet and has done a tremendous job of maintaining the sewer lines. However, there are times when a perfectly clean line is getting jetted and that means unnecessary hours are being put on the truck as well as thousands of gallons of water are being wasted. The Vactor can only be used in temperatures above freezing and that limits the sewer maintenance work to the busy summer months. Another option for inspecting sewer lines is to televise them. The City last had its entire system televised over the course of three years in 1996-98. All of the existing lines at the time were televised and the City owns the VHS tapes and inspection books from this project. Since that time the City has done some spot televising for inflow and infiltration (I&I) problems as well as prior to street reconstruction projects. The City currently owns a camera that can be fitted on the end of the water hose of the Vactor and sent up the sewer pipes using water pressure. The footage can be unclear due to the water spray from the hose, the camera cannot pan and tilt to look up services, and the footage is recorded on VHS tapes, which are bulky to store and in short supply for purchase. Flexible Pipe Tool Company in St. Joseph, MN sells sanitary sewer cameras. The cameras are on the state contract so everything is set for pricing. One of the options Flexible Pipe offers is a 6’ by 10’ trailer with the camera and other equipment mounted inside. The trailer is set up at a manhole and the camera is strategically deployed so that multiple runs between manholes can be accomplished with one set up. There are 1000 feet of cable on the reel and mast manholes are 300-400 feet apart. Ideally, the camera heads upstream for two or three straight runs and then heads downstream for two or three more runs. Not every run is neat and tidy but routes can be set up to limit the number of set ups.