Peachtree City operates 180 miles of sewer infrastructure with a crew of just six. During a supply closet cleanout, a technician discovered an out-of-service SL-RAT® from a discontinued program due to staff turnover.
CCTV and cleaning jobs tied up a third of the small staff. The city needed a way to prioritize work without exhausting its workforce.
Instead of selling the SL-RAT (despite an offer for over $15,000), the technician led a re-launch of the city’s condition-based maintenance program to assess blockage levels and prioritize cleaning. Over 280,000 feet of gravity sewer lines were inspected. Areas that scored poorly were flagged for cleaning and follow-up.
Most of the system was blockage-free, reducing unnecessary work. In the less than one mile of lines that did show issues, crews found root growth, asphalt debris, and FOG buildup. Targeted cleaning helped prevent overflows.
Instead of sending a third of our staff out to clean areas that may not need cleaning, we can inspect with the SL-RAT and prioritize our efforts. There are probably 10 instances where the SL-RAT has prevented an overflow we would not have found otherwise.
