Inspections, cleaning nearly eliminate Green Bay sewer backups
Green Bay’s Department of Public Works has reduced sewer backups by a drastic 94% since 2009 – from 267 reported backups in 2009 to just 13 in 2016. Improvements to their program have included integrating acoustic technology, which has helped them to gauze whether pipes are obstructed and need more expensive assets such as CCTVs or cleaning.
Reasons for sewer backups can be attributed to aging pipes, freezing and thawing of pipes, and roots that obstruct flow. The SL-RAT has allowed them to inspect a larger number of pipes and find troubles before they cause overflows.