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A restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee, was dealing with a sewer backing up in multiple places. Because they didn’t have maps of the existing sewer system, they couldn’t troubleshoot the issue without help. Having a sewer back up into a restaurant is a problem that could lead to health and safety issues, and ultimately having the restaurant shut down by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. They needed solutions, and fast, so they called GPRS for help.
GPRS Video Pipe Inspection Project Manager Alec Bacon worked with the restaurant owners to begin inspecting the system beginning with the cleanouts inside the restaurant.
“They were having issues with the sewer backing up in different spots, and actually suspected that during the building process, someone decided to tie the sewer into the storm drain,” Alec Bacon said.
Bacon deployed a push camera inside the sewer lines, mapping the lines as well as performing a visual inspection to locate the cause of the backup. The push camera is necessary when the line is too small for the CCTV crawler camera so that the Project Manager can get an accurate picture of what’s inside the sewer pipes.
No blockages or anomalies were observed in the dishwasher room cleanout, so Bacon moved on to inspect the sewer lines near the office area.
“There were no issues with the dishwasher cleanout or the parking garage. It got interesting when we go into the office and check the cleanout in there,” the Project Manager shared.
As the push camera moved through the PVC line originating in the office, Bacon observed that the line fed into what appeared to be a concrete storm drain line located outside the restaurant. A sanitary sewer line feeding into a storm drain is not a common discovery, so Bacon wanted to get further confirmation.
The Project Manager deployed the CCTV crawler camera inside the storm drain to see if he could see the push camera, which was in the sewer line, entering the storm drain.
Bacon explained, “I was able to go in to the storm line with the crawler camera, and yep, there’s the push camera hanging out into the storm line.”
Even though Bacon could see the push camera in the storm line, he wanted to use yet another test to confirm his findings, so he performed a dye test.
A dye test is a method where colored dye is introduced into the cleanout in question, and then when the colored dye is observed in another part of the system, it is confirmed the systems are connected.
The CCTV crawler was stationed in the storm drain inlet so Bacon could see if the green dye introduced into the office cleanout would dump into the storm drain.
The clear water on the CCTV video feed turned green as it dumped into the storm drain, confirming the sanitary sewer was illegally tied in to the storm drain. Even Bacon, who has been a GPRS VPI Project Manager for over five years, had this to say about that moment:
“It was a really cool example of our services working exactly as they needed to, and the customer was thrilled.”
Even with no as-builts available and multiple cleanouts to investigate, GPRS was able to quickly and efficiently provide the restaurant owners with a map of their sewer system, and the information they needed to remedy the cause of the backups.
This job wasn’t just about telling the customer their sewer was illegally tied in to the storm drain. GPRS put markings on the ground showing the route of each sewer cleanout, and also provided a digital map so those findings could be shared with members of their team via SiteMap®.
Whether you need your sewer system mapped so you can perform inspections efficiently, or you need to find the source of a bad smell, GPRS has the experience, expertise, and leading-edge equipment to provide you with the answers you need.
From locating buried utilities to fully visualizing new construction, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
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