A smoke test of the sanitary sewer system that got underway last week has concluded with only minor issues found, Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen said today.
The testing took place for the system in the area north of Adams Boulevard and west of Bison Road. The testing is necessary to help detect defects within the system. City crews introduced non-toxic smoke through manholes into the sewer system under moderate pressure using smoke blowers. The area was then observed for smoke emitting from defective areas.
“This is a tool that we use to identify defects in the wastewater collection system as well as in private service lines that connect to that system,” Lauritsen said, noting that the goal of the testing is to eliminate inflow and infiltration in the City’s wastewater system.
“Fortunately, our system is in pretty good shape, as we only found very minor issues, mostly with house clean-outs, as a result of the smoke testing,” he said.
House clean-outs can be located in various places, but typically they are next to the house. These clean-outs provide access to the property’s sewer service line.
“They typically aren’t even noticed until there’s some sort of problem,” Lauritsen said. “They look like a pipe either in the ground or sticking slightly above it, and they’ll have a cap on them. The problem is usually with the cap, which is what we found with our testing as well. Clean-out caps are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. They’re one of those things that you wish you had checked before a problem occurs, so we encourage everyone to check theirs and make repairs where appropriate.”
Lauritsen said anyone who has questions about their clean-outs or other sanitary sewer system issues is welcome to contact the Water Utilities Department at 918.338.4116.