Robots Help SAWS View Sewer System Underground

The San Antonio Water System is using a new tool that many people don't know the company is using: robots. The robots help crews keep an eye on all sewer systems below ground. 

Foreman Joseph Villarreal is responsible for supervising a line cleaning and televising crew that performs inspections of the wastewater collection system.

"Before we drop the cameras, the operators go and clean the sewer beams. They use high-pressure water," Villarreal said.

While we've seen crews go underground, thanks to technology, they no longer have to. The seven vehicles are equipped with machinery to televise and find out at what's happening underground.

When the team televises, they find information about the condition of the pipe, and that helps prioritize which ones need to be rehabbed or replaced sooner than others. It helps the design team see what is happening to decide how to fix any issues.

Villarreal said their main source of problems is not only with grease but also with flushable wipes.

"They flush away, but they will never break down like normal toilet paper," Villarreal said.

The team works with several agencies, including the sheriff's department and animal shelter.

SAWS is fulfilling an Environmental Protection Agency requirement by using the robots.

"In 2013, we entered a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency, and that was basically a plan maintenance program for us. That would end up causing us to do some remedial measures, which are repairs to the system," said Alissa Lockett, distribution and collection director. "

Starting in 2013, we agreed by 2016, 2017, we would assess and inspect all of our concrete clay main. At this point, we are about 99.9 percent done with all of our inspections. All the televising of the clay maintenance has been done and that was about 1,700 miles."

"We are looking for anything wrong with the sewer pipe, broken pipes, fractures," Villarreal said. 

Read more: KSAT

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Taxonomy

• Technology
• Leakage Detection
• Sewage
• Leakage
• Infrastructure
• Integrated Infrastructure
• Infrastructure Management
• Sewer Networks
• Pipeline Rehabilitation
• Infrastructure
• Pick & Place Robots
• Pipes and Pipelines