Marion County Commissioners approve sewer assessment project on Brookpark Road
The Marion County Sanitary Engineer's Office has approved hiring a firm to assess the condition of a sewer line that was incorrectly built when the county sewer system was constructed in 1976.
The Marion County Commissioners approved hiring RedZone Robotics, based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, to conduct the assessment project. The contract amount for the project is $29,950. RedZone Robotics specializes in the inspection of wastewater systems and infrastructure, according to information found on the company website.
According to Sanitary Engineer Phil Wright, "1,100 linear feet of the main interceptor sewer serving the Sewer District 7 area" is the portion of line that was installed incorrectly and is in need of assessment. He said due to the improper construction, that section of the interceptor sewer line is vulnerable to increased degradation because it remains flooded at all times.
Wright said Sewer District 7 is the main section of the county sewer system and includes the plant on Richland Road. He said the section of sewer line that needs to be assessed begins at Marion-Edison Road and runs south along Brookpark Road to Dublin Road.
"Because of the incorrect construction, basically, the line goes uphill instead of downhill," Wright told the commissioners during the June 16 meeting. "So we've got a section of pipe that holds water. You can't use a standard camera system to go through it because you can't see everything. (RedZone Robotics) has an instrument that has lasers and sonar and they can tell the remaining pipe thicknesses and stuff like that.
"This is a section that hasn't been looked at in a while and it's time to see if the pipe is still structurally okay. If it is degrading faster, then we can properly make plans to address it. This is step one."
Wright noted that he also wants RedZone Robotics to review other sections of the sewer system while the company is conducting the assessment of the line that runs from Marion-Edison to Dublin roads.
"I want them to look at some of the upstream sections and downstream sections from the section that's incorrectly built to make sure that we don't have anything up and down stream from it that might be deteriorating, too," Wright told the commissioners. "The pipe is concrete and, not necessarily the wastewater, but the hydrogen sulfide that can be created by standing wastewater, and concrete don't mix very well. We just want to make sure that everything is good because it's a section that runs under roads and we don't want to end up with a nasty surprise."
Wright noted that most sewer lines should last more than 50 years with normal usage, but due to the incorrect construction and standing water in the pipe, the assessment project is needed. He said the system has not experienced any issues and no residents who live in the area of the line to be assessed have registered complaints or concerns with his office.
"We haven't had any particular issues there. We're just trying to be proactive," Wright said.
According to the resolution the commissioners approved during their June 16 meeting, the contract will be paid for out of Sewer Revenue Funds.
Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion County Commissioners approve sewer assessment project
