Pipe Inspection Services in Draper, Utah, specializes in televising and cleaning pipelines for new construction, but its business portfolio includes 15 percent municipal work — and four-fifths of that involves the control and eradication of intruding roots.
“The roots we see in sewer lines are almost always a result of breaks in the pipe or a crack in a joint,” says operations manager Rudy Hogue. “Once the roots find a water source, they get in. If left unchecked, either the pipe will give eventually or the root will keep flourishing. They can start as tiny as a thread and grow as huge as a tree limb. Roots create havoc in pipes.”
The company attacks root intrusion with mechanical cutting tools, then often seals them out permanently with cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining.
Experienced owners
Pipe Inspection Services was founded in June 2005, but owners Greg Larson, Jeff Larson, and Hogue had experience in video inspecting, cleaning, root control, and lining. Jobs usually involve 8- to 24-inch pipes, but can involve lines from 4 to 96 inches.
When addressing root intrusion, says Hogue, the first step is to inspect the pipe to determine the extent of the problem. The best remedy, in his experience, is to remove the roots with cutters, then maintain the pipe yearly or line it. The decision depends on the municipality’s requirements.
The extent of root intrusion varies, but it usually increases in proportion to the age of the pipe. A key to effective control is to eliminate the roots without damaging the pipe.
“The chain cutter must be built as close as possible to the pipe’s exact diameter,” Hogue says. “We measure the length of the chains and set the skids on the motor to center the cutter in the pipe. It’s a heck of a bust to go into the pipe with the equipment tuned incorrectly.”
Because the operation is tricky, only highly skilled technicians work on root removal, working with the jetting controls on one of the company’s combination trucks. Pipe Inspection Services has two combination units from Vactor Manufacturing and one from Vac-Con Inc. Each delivers 2,000 psi/80 gpm.
High-pressure water propels the motor and cutter on skids along the pipe. Most cutters from Shamrock Pipe Tools Inc. are chain flails — interchangeable lengths of heavy-duty, square, heat-treated 6/32-, 7/32-, and 9/32-inch chain spinning at 250 rpm. Low revolutions reduce the risk of accidentally taking out an offset joint or damaging the pipe wall. As the root mass is cut, the shreds are propelled downstream by rear-facing jets on the cutter. A combination truck waiting at the next manhole vacuums up the debris.
Send in the big boys
The company uses two waterjet motor systems. The Root Cutter motor with 6-inch skids, supplied as part of the Contractor Duty kit from Shamrock Pipe Tools, cleans 6- to 18-inch lines and delivers 1,500 to 2,000 psi at 50 to 80 gpm. The motor rotates at 300 to 350 rpm and has 2,250 inch/pounds of torque to prevent stalling. When combined with an 18-inch root cutter blade, concave circular saws, or cable-style cutters, the system reduces extremely heavy root blockages to pulp.
Larger lines, 8 to 48 inches, require the Super Cutter Plus 200 chain cutter from KEG Technologies Inc. This high-torque tool rotates chains and a cross-cutter head at 2,500 rpm, delivering a minimum of 1,800 psi/60 gpm. The cross-cutter bit bores into the root mass, enabling the roller chains to remove it and trim encroaching roots.
Various nozzles from Shamrock often are needed to finish cleaning a line once the roots are removed. If only flushing is required, the Tadpole, a sweep-style flusher, is sent down 8- to 24-inch pipes. The pressure-welded steel nozzle with heat-treated, spring-steel skid wire has one forward jet standard and twelve 8- and 14-degree dual rear jets.
Scouring a buildup of material from the bottom of pipes brings the Finned Fantail and Boat nozzles out of the toolbox. The Fantail has two large fins to keep the nozzle on the bottom of pipe, while eight rear jets fan out horizontally in two sets of four to sweep downward. “We use it to clean culverts and large pipe,” says Hogue.
The Boat nozzle is a heavy-duty, flat-bottom nozzle with stabilizing bars and skids. High-pressure water, distributed through a manifold to 11 rear jets set at optimum angles, removes debris from the bottom of medium to large sewer mains.
“If we have to create a path to center a flushing nozzle in severe blockages, then we use the heavy-duty Ultimate Penetrator,” says Hogue. “It has one forward jet standard and five rear jets set at 12 degrees. We also use it to clear bottom buildups.”
Permanent solution
“Relining from manhole to manhole creates a seamless continuous pipe with a joint at each entry point,” says Hogue. “This is the best solution to eliminate root intrusion. Most often, when we contract with a municipality to inspect, clean, and remove roots, it is with the intent to reline.
“However, our company basically does 150- to 500-foot long spot repairs in 6- to 24-inch pipes. For the major manhole-to-manhole projects, we generally are the subcontractor to a local lining company, but we clean and video-inspect the entire pipe.”
For spot repairs, the company uses the MaxLiner system. While expansion into more extensive lining projects is possible, Hogue says that right now the company wants to stick with what it is comfortable doing, according to experience and capability.
Of course, sewer lining jobs include reinstating laterals to homes or businesses. For that, Pipe Inspection Services uses a GMC 550 truck with video inspection equipment and Raptor tap cutter from Aries Industries Inc.
A 100-cfm air compressor from Vanair Manufacturing Inc. powers the reinstatement tool. A built-in, 12-volt battery or 110-volt power source propels the Aries Seeker push camera with self-contained screen on the reel. The operator positions the cutter by watching its location on the monitor, then uses the console controls to activate the tool and cut the opening.
For general inspection work, the company has a second CCTV van, a Ford F-450 carrying an Illumi-Zoom pan-and-tilt camera mounted on a Badger tractor from Aries.
The company recently added air testing to its services. The air compressor and pipe-testing equipment, carried on a pickup truck, can test lines up to 48 inches.
Do’s and Don’ts
For the owners of Pipeline Inspection Services, proper personnel training is a top priority. “Our training is primarily hands-on experience in which the trainee works with an experienced operator,” says operations manager Rudy Hogue. “This can take three months to a year, depending on factors such as the candidate’s previous
experience. “There are a lot of do’s and don’ts in this business. For example, you definitely don’t send an inexperienced person down a manhole without confined-space training. We operate sophisticated equipment, and we want experienced technicians to do the more technical work.” While the company cross-trains its people, some remain as specialists.
The company started with four employees and has grown to 12, including the three owners. From its home in Draper, Utah, work has expanded into the neighboring states of Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho. “We service whatever we can reach within 10 minutes to four hours,” says Hogue.
Know your capabilities
“A company must be honest with itself and accept that there are times when the needs of the customer dictate calling in another business with different experience or capability,” says Hogue.
“If you try doing something that you’re ill-equipped to do, it can be very costly and inconvenient for the city or customer. It’s better to be smart and cooperate with everyone involved.”
Serving the customer is not just a slogan: Hogue emphasizes to his technicians that they should believe in what they are doing — so that they can go home believing they have accomplished something beneficial.
“We are a new company,” Hogue says. “We tell employees that our growth depends on each and every one of us.”
