Sanitary Sewer Evaluation/Rehabilitation Unit

The Sanitary Sewer Evaluation/ Rehabilitation (SSE/R) Unit of the Water Authority's Wastewater Operations Division is responsible for the investigation of the condition and proper functioning of the Water Authority's wastewater infrastructure. Personnel in the SSE/R Unit are sanitary sewer collection system analysts working on the front lines to detect and correct defects in the system before they cause problems. The SSE/R Unit also conducts an ongoing Collection System Evaluation Study (CSES). The CSES pinpoints problems in specific sewer sheds, tracks wastewater volume carried by each sewer shed and monitors rainfall impact on each part of the system.

There are 17 employees in SSE/R, including 14 field personnel. SSE/R office hours are from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and field crews work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and after hours and on weekends on an emergency basis.

Some of the equipment used by SSE/R includes two vans with closed-circuit TV and camera capability. These are used for televising and inspecting main sewer lines. A lateral camera is used for inspecting laterals or 6" mains and a SeaSnake is a 1.5" camera used for inspecting 1.5” to 4” laterals or drain lines. Its camera head is equipped with a location finder or sonde that allows the operator to determine the precise location of a problem. Digital cameras are used to document surcharges, overflows and other problems.

SSE/R uses two rodding machines, one self-contained and the other trailer mounted, for cutting roots, grease or other debris from sewer lines. In addition, a portable rodding machine is used in easements and other areas inaccessible by the full-sized machines.

A two-person crew operates a vacuum (Camel) truck to clean and vacuum debris out of main sewer lines. A two-person crew operates a Jet (flusher) truck, which also cleans main sewer lines.

Locating equipment is used to help find buried manholes, cleanout caps and other sewer main access points.

SSE/R uses two smoke machines, one that burns three-minute candles and the other liquid smoke. They are used for neighborhood smoke tests and various other situations on an as-needed basis. Solid and liquid dye are used to trace flows in mains or laterals and for determining if a customer is connected to the sanitary sewer system.

The photographs on this page illustrate some of the work that SSE/R staff carries out. At top is a rodding machine, used for clearing wastewater pipes of grease and roots. Center, a smoke machine is used to send smoke through sewer mains and laterals; at bottom, smoke emerging from the ground indicates breaks in a lateral where smoke has escaped from the pipe.