December 1, 2006 - The process of cleaning and photographing the city's west side sewer system which began this past summer is nearing completion and Chillicothe Municipal Utilities plan to go out for bid early next year to hire a company to make repairs to the worst areas in the system. This work is part of a long-range plan anticipated to extend for several years and cost $500,000 every third year to make repairs to deteriorating lines. The process is a proactive approach which involves sending cameras into the sewer lines to determine where problems exist. And, with some sewer lines dating back to the turn of the century - that is, between the 1800s and the 1900s - several problems have been identified. “We are very pleased with the results,” said CMU General Manager Steve Svec, noting that he was talking only about the camera inspection process, rather than the results of that inspection. “We knew we were going to have a lot of problems.”

Most of the lines had never been cleaned or repaired and the photographs revealed deterioration. Some pipes had sand, silt and leaves. Some had tree roots growing into them. Some had holes, bricks, and stones. Some sewer lines had even collapsed. The camera work is expected to continue through January. Then, with the problems identified, CMU will prioritize the situations and make repairs to the worst areas first. Up until 2003-2004, the process of actually sending cameras into the city's sewer network had not been done. And, traditionally, repairs were based largely on wherever problems emerged. “Now we are spending money where it is needed the most and not guessing at it,” Svec said. Underground Imaging, a firm from Olathe, Kan., did this camera work on the east side of town beginning in 2003 and 2004 as a one-time project.