The Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, N.C., Utilities Division (CMUD) uses CCTV cameras to inspect its underground sanitary sewer pipes for blockages and interferences, but a new device that sends acoustical waves through sewer pipes is giving the utility a more accurate view.
“Often, the [CCTV] images were so dark and murky or the system would get hung up, and we couldn’t get a clear picture,” says John Fishburne, senior engineer in CMUD’s field operations division. “We wound up cleaning pipes that, in many cases, didn’t need it.”