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Damaged and decaying sewer and wastewater systems can increase operating costs, contaminate surrounding soil and water supplies, and create risk for communities and workers alike.
From cross bores to cracked pipes, these systems are constantly under threat. A comprehensive evaluation, plan, and repair need to be undertaken as soon as possible to help mitigate the risks associated with these issues.
The most cost-effective way to address storm and sanitary sewer issues is to first do a NASSCO-compliant video pipe inspection. A CCTV video pipe inspection, also known as a sewer scope or sewer inspection, utilize remote control crawlers affixed with HD video cameras, lateral launch robots, or push cameras inserted into sewer pipes, lateral lines, and can even be used in some water lines to inspect them for structural damage, i.e., pipe defects, breaks, cross bores, and debris without unnecessary potholing.
You Have Options
Renting or buying VPI equipment to either conduct the inspection yourself, or have one of your workers do it, seems like a natural way to keep a project budget and schedule under control.
A closer look at the situation, however, reveals that the cost of paying for the rental or purchase, the amount of time and money you’d have to invest in proper training, and the risks involved in incorrectly identifying faults or damages within your sewer system, make hiring a professional the best option.
Option 1: Renting VPI Equipment
A standard CCTV pipe inspection system costs approximately $1,000 a day to rent.
You also need to know how to operate the system. One-day video pipe inspection training courses cost around $400 per person. These courses usually occur in a classroom setting, meaning your first actual field work will likely be on the job while you’re trying to complete a project.
You also need to know how to interpret the data you receive and present it in a way that allows you or your client to craft a mitigation or repair plan.
"The National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) is the gold standard for the standardized coding of pipe defects. This is supported by the fact that most insurers and municipalities now require NASSCO-certified inspections prior to groundbreaking on large-scale sewer and storm sewer projects."
Callie H. – Producer
NASSCO offers the Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP), Lateral Assessment Certification Program (LACP), and Manhole Assessment Certification Program (MACP), to teach VPI technicians how to consistently and accurately assess the condition of pipelines, laterals, and manholes.
A single, two-day certification course through NASSCO can cost around $925 depending on what type of training you require for your project.
So, even before you’ve attempted a single pipe inspection, you will need to spend approximately $2,300 on equipment and three days on training.
GPRS has a small army of elite, NASSCO-certified VPI Project Managers strategically stationed across the country, so you always have highly qualified sewer inspection services near you. We respond fast and can usually turn around inspection results on the same day of service, saving you time and money.
Option 2: Buying VPI Equipment
Many of the same problems you encounter attempting to rent VPI equipment also make it prohibitive to purchase this sophisticated technology.
A standard VPI rig costs upwards of $70,000 to purchase. This does not include outfitting a truck to house the equiment, deploy the robotic cameras, or the monitors and computer equiement required to view the CCTV feed and create NASSCO-coded pipe conditions and defect reporting, all of which drive the cost for a single sewer inspection truck to several hundred thousand dollars.
The technology behind sewer scope inspections is constantly changing, so that expensive system will likely be out-of-date within a couple of years. There will, of course, be additional costs for maintenance and upkeep of the equipment. And you still need to get yourself or one of your employees trained and certified to conduct an inspection. That puts your cost to purchase VPI equipment at approximately $73,000-$75,000, plus another $250,000 to outfit a truck, and a minimum of three days of training.
Or, you can hire a pipeline inspection company like GPRS to complete the project quickly and accurately.
Option 3: Hiring a Professional Video Pipe Inspection Service Provider
One of the key benefits of hiring a professional VPI service provider is their expertise and experience.
When GPRS conducts a video pipe inspection for you, you receive a comprehensive, NASSCO-certified package of information that includes detailed descriptions of any pipe defects found, plus video footage and screenshots of those problems. The defects are ranked by severity and geolocated, so you know what needs to be addressed first and exactly where you need to dig.
Professional VPI services like GPRS utilize the latest and most advanced equipment. Hiring GPRS eliminates the burden of these expenses from your budget.
GPRS is constantly updating our equipment to make sure we remain at the cutting edge of the infrastructure visualization industry. Our Project Managers currently use the state-of-the-art Envirosight Rovver X Mainline Crawler as our primary tool for inspecting sewer and storm lines. This rugged remote-controlled sewer inspection crawler has a range of up to 1,000 feet from any access point and includes multiple sets of easily swappable wheels, allowing it to adapt to various subsurface environments.
Envirosight also provides us with the SAT/Lateral Launch Camera Crawler for inspecting lateral sewer lines that otherwise would be nearly impossible to access. These crawlers are especially useful for performing cross bore inspections.
We use the Ridgid SeeSnake pushrod camera when we need to access a pipe through a cleanout, vent, or other small access point.
These are just a few of the pieces of equipment in GPRS’ extensive arsenal of VPI tools. Our wide array of technology allows our NASSCO-certified Project Managers to tailor our services to meet your needs.
Our commitment to customized service – to providing you exactly the information you need in an accessible and easy-to-understand format – extends to how we price our services. Every project is different, so we individually quote out each job we do. That way, you are assured of both the scope of work that will be provided, and that you are paying for only what you need to achieve your project goals. Our Project Managers bring years of experience and the most rigorous training in the industry to your site, empowering them to help you get the accurate information you need, in the most secure and accessible way possible.
That's why we now include full access to SiteMap's Sewer Layer with every VPI report we provide. So you can see your entire wastewater system – the exact location of each mainline, lateral, manhole, and clean-out, their depths, and the flow direction of each pipe - along with your full NASSCO-compliant WinCan report with video and thumbnail photos, and each pipe defect color-coded and mapped to PACP standards – all at the touch of a button on your laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
When you attempt a CCTV sewer line or drain inspection yourself, you’re limited to what you can do by yourself.
By hiring a professional VPI service such as GPRS, you gain access to a comprehensive suite of services and technologies. In the case of GPRS, we back up those resources with our commitment to following NASSCO standards and procedures, and provide you with secure access to your accurate sewer maps and conditions in SiteMap.
We strive to eliminate subsurface damage and keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe. Our Project Managers take a consultative approach to our jobs, working with our clients to craft solutions to their problems. And with a nationwide team of Project Managers strategically stationed in every major market and city across the United States, we ensure there’s always an elite sewer line inspection service near you.
GPRS’ infrastructure visualization services can help you Visualize The Built World™.
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