In a few months, several underground robots will begin inspecting Peachtree City sewer pipes with video cameras thanks to a contract approved by the city’s Water and Sewer Authority with Redzone Robotics.
Over the subsequent 15 months, the robots will provide data on the entire network of sewer pipes, which will help WASA determine its priority list of capital projects.
The 15-month timeline is a big change from the current process of inspecting a small portion of the pipe each year over a 10-year cycle.
WASA uses video inspections to determine whether pipes are damaged or need to be cleaned out. In recent years, those inspections have been contracted out to private firms.
Tree roots, for example, are common culprits for blocked sewer pipes.
The robots would only be going in WASA’s collection system, not into any privately-owned lines leading to the system.
The robots will provide a “Google Earth” type archive of video inspections and various data about the sewer system. The software will allow for video to be accessed with a changeable viewpoint so the user can see inside the pipe in a number of different directions.
All data, including the video, will be available offline so no Internet connection is required, officials said.
“The staff here is excited to get started on this and move forward to find out what we have in the ground,” said WASA GM Stephen Hogan.
The cost, at $178,256 a year for seven years, is comparable to WASA’s annual budget for video inspections, officials said. Redzone is fronting the financing at zero percent interest, taking a risk that future WASA boards might decide not to fund the expense.
If that happens, WASA would have 30 days to migrate all the Redzone data to another platform before the company deletes it from its servers, a company official said.
