Implementation of Acoustic Inspection Technology at the City of Augusta, GA

The City of Augusta, GA manages 1,675km (1,040 miles) of gravity sanitary sewer mains. In February 2013, they began using acoustic inspection technology as a preliminary assessment tool to help prioritize cleaning operations. They currently have 3 devices and have incorporated the technology into their asset management program.From February 2013 to June 2015, over 20,500 segments (1567 km, or 974 miles) were inspected. Results from these acoustic inspections indicate that even a conservative cleaning policy guided by acoustic inspection would result in a substantial reduction (65% to 83%) in the amount of cleaning needed. SSO rates and volume have been dramatically reduced over the past two years. Currently, they have had 6 SSOs in 2015, compared to well over 20 SSOs in 2014 for the same time period. Although the reduction in SSOs cannot be entirely attributed to using acoustic inspection, it is the backbone of their system assessment.