The television inspection lead worker will position the van approximately 3 feet from the maintenance hole being accessed. The camera can go in any direction, so the van will set up so as to have minimal effect on traffic.

The two-foot-long camera/tractor combo replaces the old four-foot-long unit. There is a weight reduction of 35 pounds; this makes the process safer and more accessible for the crews.

The smallest diameter the camera can go in is a 6-inch pipe. The tractor’s wheels are changeable for various pipe diameters.

In order to televise larger diameter pipes, the tires must be removed, and extensions, or larger tires, must be used. In this case, larger tires will be used to televise a 12-inch  main.

The District also has two steerable cameras that can be used when the crew needs to inspect mains that turn.

The camera is now ready to be placed into the sewer main.

The camera  is lowered into the maintenance hole and set into the channel in the direction the operator needs to go.

The inspection is performed from inside the van, where the operator watches the live video feed and generates an inspection report using the District’s software package, I.T. Pipes.

The television crew averages over 50,000 feet of sewer main televised each month. That’s over 110 miles a year.