Sewer Maintenance

History of the Sewer Maintenance Department

The sewer maintenance department was first established sometime in the early ’60s to take care of the sanitary sewer system and the storm sewer system.  The office and garages were originally located at the wastewater treatment plant. However, in the early 1970’s the city needed the department to take over the storm sewer system and maintain it as well.

With miles of sewers to maintain, the department was moved to its present location near downtown in order for the workforce to be more centrally located to their work.  During this time span of the 60’s and 70’s the department's work load was mostly cleaning and repairing of catch basins and manhole castings.  As time progressed, sewer cleaning and jetting equipment was added to the department to better serve the customer's needs.

The department currently maintains 90+ miles of sanitary sewers and 70+ miles of storm sewers. We currently clean both sanitary and storm sewer systems on a regular schedule.  Additionally, a motorized crawler camera unit is used in both systems to locate failures in the sewer pipes.  Sewers are smoke tested to locate areas where unwanted surface water or rain water can enter systems. Crews also install new storm and sanitary sewers when the need arises and funding is available. In addition to that work, the department also takes care of catch basins....cleaning, repairing, replacing, and installing new when needed. Crews also take care of installing and repairing sanitary and storm sewer customer taps.  Sewer maintenance employees work closely with all the other utility departments as well as with city departments.  For flexibility, employees are required to learn all aspects of sewer maintenance activities.

Equipment used in sewer maintenance include a backhoe, payloader, dump trucks (from 1 ton to 10 ton in size), a water jet truck for sewer cleaning, a combination truck (water jet and vacuum truck), draglines, continuous rodder, and a camera unit for televising the inside of the sewer lines.