Preventing Sewer Blowouts during High-Velocity Jet Cleaning Operations
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 16, Issue 4
Abstract
The flow capacity of municipal sewer lines often diminishes over time due to root intrusion and debris accumulation. As a consequence, many wastewater agencies use high-velocity jets to scour sewer pipes and restore the discharge capacity of the collection lines. Occasionally, jetting operations expel fluid from the sewer through connecting laterals to plumbing fixtures in adjacent homes and businesses. While rare, these hydraulic blowouts pose health problems, damage private property, and strain public relations. This paper investigates the conditions under which sewer line blowouts occur in order to predict and reduce their occurrence. Statistical analyses of field data gathered over a 10-year period by the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati revealed that, among many competing factors, the incidence of sewer blowouts was highest in pipes with the smallest flow capacity. Based on this finding, a simple formula was developed to identify service zones with high blowout risks. Two computational flow models, FLUENT and SWMM, were used to simulate and corroborate the sewer blowout phenomenon.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati through a research grant to the University of Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati Research Assistantship. The writers are thankful for the cooperation of the MSDGC in providing full access to maintenance, customer, and GIS data as well as crucial insight to the operation of the jetter cleaning units. The writers are also grateful to the Boxelder Sanitation District in Colorado for providing their experimental data. Finally, the writers are appreciative of the thoughtful reviews by Dr. Zhiwei Li and two anonymous reviewers.UNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 16 • Issue 4 • December 2010
Pages: 273 - 281
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 16, 2009
Accepted: Apr 12, 2010
Published online: Apr 15, 2010
Published in print: Dec 2010
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