United States
     Environmental Protection
     Agency
        RESEARCH PROJECT
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
       Water Supply and Water Resources Division
          Urban Watershed Management Branch
CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF WASTEWATER COLLECTION SYSTEMS
                                                                 IMPACT STATEMENT
                                                   This  project  will  assist  wastewater  utilities with  the
                                                   condition  assessment  of  their deteriorating  wastewater
                                                   collections systems, and will support the U.S. Environmental
                                                   Protection Agency's (EPA)  Program Offices with addressing
                                                   proposed   capacity,   management,   operation    and
                                                   maintenance  requirements  to  the  National  Pollutant
                                                   Discharge  Elimination System permits for the reduction of
                                                   sanitary sewer flow (SSO) pollution.
BACKGROUND:
The Nation's sanitary sewer infrastructure is aging and deteriorating, with some sewers dating back over 100 years.
Nationwide, there are more than 19,500 sanitary sewer collection systems serving an estimated 150 million people. The
American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card gave wastewater infrastructure a D- grade for both their
2005 and 2009 reports. Nationally, approximately 40,000 SSO events, 50,000 sewer breaks, and 500,000 stoppages
occur yearly and about 75% of  the nation's  piping systems are  functioning  at 50%  capacity or less.  To assist
municipalities in assessing the conditions of their deteriorating wastewater collections systems, EPA initiated research to
review and evaluate existing and emerging inspection and assessment technologies, and select and prepare them for
control-condition testing and field demonstration.

DESCRIPTION:
The National Risk Management Research Laboratory, of EPA's Office of Research and Development, has funded this
research project in support of its Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) Research Program. The tasks of this project include:
(1) identification and characterization of the state of the condition assessment technology; (2) preparation of protocols
and  site  selection  criteria and  selection of  innovative  technologies for controlled-condition testing and field
demonstration.; (3) identification  and evaluation of innovative CCTV technologies currently used by more advanced
wastewater utilities for transfer to  utilities at  large;  and  (4)  research and  evaluation of  performance and  cost  of
innovative and advanced assessment technologies, including  wireless and remote sensing  approaches developed in
other industries according to their applicability for assessing the conditions of collection sewers.
EPA GOAL: Goal #2 - Clean & Safe Water, Objective 2.1.1- Water Safe to Drink
ORD MULTI YEAR PLAN: Water Quality (WQ), Long Term Goal - WQ-3 Source Control
RESEARCH PARTNERS :
Contractors: The Cadmus Group (subcontractors: The Louis Berger Group, Inc.; ADS Technologies, Inc.; and Red Zone)
       National Risk Management Research Laboratory
       Water Supply and Water Resources Division

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EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS:
It is expected that this project will result in improved prioritization of critical infrastructure to inspect,  monitor, and
assess the performance of rehabilitation activities; and increased Agency effectiveness by establishing an adaptation
research framework. The expected outcomes and impacts of this project also include reduced infrastructure failures and
their adverse  public  health,  safety,  environmental,  and economic effects  by  improved condition assessment
technologies.

OUTPUTS:
Current and expected project outputs include:
    • State of Technology Review Report: Condition Assessment of Wastewater Collection Systems: (EPA/600/R-09/049)
    • Summary of technology forum discussions and findings
    • Information transfer document on internal camera inspection technologies
    • Information transfer document on advanced integrity monitoring technologies
    • Quality assurance project plan for conducting field demonstrations and data analysis
    • Report on field demonstration of technologies
    • Final state-of-the-technology report
    • Conference proceedings
RESOURCES:
Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program: http://www.epa.gov/awi/
EPA (2009). Condition Assessment of Wastewater Collection Systems - State of Technology Review Report (EPA/600/R-
09/049) http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r09049/600r09049.pdf
Urban Watershed Management Research: http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/

CONTACTS:
Dennis Lai, Principal Investigator - (732) 321- 6632 orlai.dennis@epa.gov
Steven Doub, Media Relations - (513) 569-7503 ordoub.steven@epa.gov
Michelle Latham, Communications - (513) 569-7601 or latham.michelle@epa.gov
      National Risk Management Research Laboratory
      Water Supply and Water Resources Division
www.epa.gov/nrmrl
EPA/600/F-09/041
October 2009

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