By Dale Brown
The Journal 

Council approves sewer camera purchase

 

Last updated 1/17/2023 at 8:16am

City of Ritzville

RITZVILLE – Public Works employees will have a new tool for repairing and replacing city sewer lines.

At its Jan. 3 meeting, the City Council approved Public Works Director Dave Breazeale's request for a new camera to detect breaks, clogs and other problems in the city's underground sewer network.

In addition to the camera, the city will purchase an instrument probe known as a locator.

That device automatically transmits information about its surroundings from an inaccessible location, such as underground or underwater.

Councilman Scott Yeager recommended approving the purchase for the quoted price of $7,142 for the camera and $1,495 for the locator. The total cost for the purchase is estimated at $8,500 plus tax.

Breazeale noted most city sewer lines are laid in alleys; most water lines are buried beneath the streets.

"We've had a lot of sewer problems over the last few weeks, and I think this is just the tip of the iceburg. We used to deal with sewer issues every six weeks," he said. "Now it's every week or two."

"With the frozen ground, it's just a matter of time before we'll have an explosion of repair needs."

These needs include broken and collapsed pipes.

Breaseale said the sewer system contains "a lot of junk pipe that never should have been put in the ground."

He further noted many sewer lines are constructed of "Orangeburg" pipe, a type of bituminized fiber pipe made from a mixture of hot pitch and wood pulp.

Breaseale described this type of pipe as something like tarpaper that, over time, causes the inside of the pipe to bubble.

"Like the inside of a metal pipe that corrodes and becomes abrasive, this type of pipe catches solids and backs up the lines," he said.

He further noted that existing pipes tend to be undersized.

"Our existing sewer camera broke a couple of weeks ago," Breazeale said. "We were planning to buy a new camera anyway, and this purchase was close to the budgeted amount. We did a lot of research and found a camera we could use with or without power."

Breazeale said several improvements of the new setup over the city's prior sewer camera.

Those include a battery adapter that enables workers to plug hand tools into the unit and run it without electricity.

The new camera also has a 200-foot lead (the cable connecting the camera to the above-ground monitor). The old camera originally had a 100-foot lead.

Over the years, Breazeale noted the existing camera's lead was reduced to 75 feet because of damage. He also said the new camera offers color video instead of black-and-white.

The new locator does a good job of identifying the camera's position inside the pipe, he said, explaining the current locator works to a depth of about three feet.

The new locator will generate signals from about 10 feet underground, he said.

"It's a really cool setup and something we've needed for a really long time," he said. "I'm hoping that sewer problems are something we can stay ahead of."

In other business, the council approved;

• A final pay estimate totaling $153,495 for the Well No. 8 replacement. Breazeale said the contractor, Schneider Water Services, has completed drilling and reviewing the pipe casing. The well's final depth was 1,574 feet. The well was only nine inches off from center, an acceptable deviation, he said. The contractor will complete additional testing to ensure the well works properly. The contract price for the project totaled $1,878,373.

• Revisions to the 2023 contract between the city and golf course manager Daniel Duff. Revisions included a pay increase of $300 per month from $4,635 to $4,935, less frequent green-fee remissions to the city (weekly instead of daily) and deletion of clauses requiring the manager to provide snack food and non-alcoholic beverages.

 

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