Hoping a watched sewer never spills

June Casagrande

Could this be the next wave of reality TV? Let’s hope not. But a new

sewer cam van might be a good way to prevent sewer spills -- albeit a

pricey one.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider spending $127,000 on a

van equipped with a special TV camera that can monitor sewer lines to

help prevent leaks.

“This would add the ability to monitor the sewer lines with a TV

camera, to spot deficiencies and get them taken care of before you

have a sewer spill,” Councilman Don Webb said.

The city already owns a 10-year-old video camera system for

finding problems inside sewer lines.

“But it’s ready to be traded in for a computer-based model that

provides a higher level of service,” Utilities Director Eldon

Davidson wrote. “The Utilities Department believes that we can save

money and better protect our community from sewer spills by having

our own video van.”

By staff’s accounting, purchasing the new camera-equipped van is

cheaper than the present system.

Right now, the city has contracts with several companies. One

contract is for $125,000 a year with a company that videotape the

city’s sewer lines, covering about 1/4 of the entire system each

year.

Purchasing the van would also eliminate the $30,000-a-year cost of

a private contractor that takes video images of “hot spots” -- areas

where sewer lines experience chronic stoppages or overflows, or where

tree roots form too great an obstacle for city workers to videotape.

In either case, the money comes out of Wastewater Enterprise Fund,

which comes from residents’ sewer service fees.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.