Ben Smith doesn’t hesitate when asked what technology investment has most impacted Marvel Sewer and Drain, the company he established in 2012. Pipe lining is the automatic response.
“Getting into pipe lining totally changed our business,” Smith says. “It led us to bigger-ticket jobs than just drain cleaning. I believe we’re in the golden age of sewer repair. Pipelines are failing all around us and this technology is so much less intrusive. I really can’t say enough good things about it.”
Smith’s experience with pipe lining underscores the importance of keeping up with technology that can differentiate a business from competitors who are unwilling to make similar investments in advanced equipment. It also reflects the benefits of providing better solutions for customers and making work easier for employees.
About seven years ago, Marvel Sewer and Drain — located in suburban Minneapolis — was lining about one pipe every other week. But for the past three to four years, the company has been lining about nine pipelines a week, mostly residential sewer laterals.
“Pipes keep failing, so there’s more and more work,” Smith says.
Around 2016, the company invested in a Vortex pipe lining system. The business uses a pipe lining system from Vortex and hot-water-cured liners from MaxLiner USA, all purchased from Six One Six Trenchless, a distributorship Smith owns.
“Pipe lining is our biggest revenue generator,” Smith says. “And we’re now doing it at a higher level — much more efficiently.”
It used to take about three working days and two to three people to line pipes. Now a two-person crew can do an average lateral in about six hours, he says.
To prepare pipes for lining, a critical initial step, the company relies on a Clog Dog machine from Clog Squad, featuring flexshaft technology.
“That machine has made what we do so much easier,” Smith says. “You need wall-to-wall cleaning inside pipes for pipe lining and this machine does the job.”
After encountering problems during an open-cut job to repair a Y lateral connection to a sewer main, the Marvel Sewer and Drain now plans to further invest in trenchless pipe rehab technology by buying a repair system from Schwalm Robotic. The system includes a Talpa robotic crawler and a HutlinerPacker.
“We figured there had to be a better way to do these kinds of jobs, so we started looking,” Smith says. “We found the Schwalm Y-patch technology, which would’ve made that job pretty painless.
“We want to continue our focus on having the best tools and technology to serve our employees and customers properly.”
Read more about Marvel Sewer and Drain in the July 2024 issue of Cleaner magazine.
