There have been many innovations in sewer cleaning technology over the years. Most have been designed to save contractors time and money. But with a growing emphasis on “going green,” it’s become increasingly important that new technology is also environmentally friendly.

The WGR Switcher from StoneAge, on display at the 2016 Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport Show in Indianapolis, gives users the ability to run a single sewer jetting tool in either pulling or cleaning mode without removing the nozzle from the pipe. This saves water while increasing operator productivity by eliminating the need to swap nozzles mid-job.

“The way the tool is designed, you can do many applications,” says Frank Ligori, Warthog dealer manager for StoneAge. “You can switch the tool over to impact the wall harder, which removes more scale, roots, debris, grease — whatever it may be. You can also switch back to flush it back to the manhole, which allows the combo trucks to vacuum it out or transport it down the line farther to the treatment plant.

“It’s a new technique. It’s new technology to the industry, and I think it’s a game-changer. We’re very lucky to have this tool,” he says.

Whenever the jetter’s pump is idled down and brought back to pressure, the tool will switch the flow between two different sets of jets. The pulling/flushing jet pattern directs maximum power to the rear jets in order to pull the tool quickly to problem areas or flush debris backwards out of the pipe. The cleaning/descaling jet pattern directs power out the side jets to clean deposits or cut roots, for example.

“A lot of customers are getting really good results when they’re running it in conjunction with a camera truck,” says product engineer Colton Andersen. “They can follow it down the line; they can keep it in that flushing mode until they hit a spot where there is mineral deposits or roots, and then they can switch it and really work that section, then switch it back and flush all that stuff back down the line.

“A lot of people run either a descaling head or a pulling head, so they’re having to pull that out and either put a whole new tool on or put a duplicate head on their tool to run down and get a different cleaning aspect in the pipe,” Andersen says.

The WGR Switcher navigates pipes 8 to 36 inches in diameter and handles pressures up to 5,000 psi at up to 100 gpm. It is available in both 1- and 1 1/4-inch inlet options.
WWETT Show attendees got a chance to see the tool in person on the showroom floor, ask questions and speak directly with folks like Anderson, who were tasked with designing the product and improving on the technology.

“Our booth flow and our booth traffic was great,” Ligori says. “We got some good leads on our side, but more importantly — at the end of the day — this is more to focus on the industry and where the industry is going. Our customers are the municipalities, the contractors — so it’s very important for us to be here.

“We’re trying to advance the industry — how to do more work with less water and be more efficient.” 866/795-1586; www.stoneagetools.com.