When is a sewer camera test suitable?

A camera test will reveal sewer defects. When should it be used?

Are sewer pipes ruptured, blocked with roots or leaking? If so, what should you do? Operated by an experienced technician, the camera will find the cause of the sewer issue. How is a video inspection conducted? What pipe profiles can be inspected and what should be done following a camera test?

Problems with municipal sewers are always troublesome, but if signs of a defect appear, there is no need to panic. It could be a small defect, easily repairable using a localised trenchless method.

A camera test should be the first step in detecting the problem. When is it typically used?

To determine the cause of sewer blockage
In the event of a sinkhole occurring close to a sewer location
When sewage or rainwater leak into the building or walls become damp
To check the condition of the pipes before rehabilitation
To inspect the sewer following a completed repair
Upon sewer acceptance following construction
To locate branches, bends, hidden manholes, and other elements inside sewers
To prevent defects

Cleaning always precedes a camera test

If you commission a firm to camera test your pipes, be prepared for sewer cleaning as well. Simply inserting a self-powered or push-in camera into the pipe would yield no effect – the pipe is usually full of sediments accumulated over years of use and the camera may not reveal the cause of the issue.

This is why, before the actual camera test, the specialists will clean the sewer with pressurised water.

Camera tests can be performed in sewer profiles from DN 30 to DN 1,600 mm

A monitoring vehicle equipped with a camera model suitable for the pipe profile and equipment for monitoring and controlling the camera will usually arrive to conduct a camera test.

Inspection microsystems for profiles from DN 30 mm

Camera tests can also be undertaken in very narrow pipes such as house drains over distances of up to 5 m. Operators push these cameras into the pipe manually using push cables. This type of inspection cannot be video recorded.

Push-in cameras for pipe profiles from DN 80 to DN 200 mm

The monitoring vehicle is equipped with cameras on push strings. It has a dedicated power source and all the tools required for a camera test. The cameras are fitted with a rotating head and used primarily for monitoring service pipes of up to 40 metres in length.

Robotic cameras for monitoring specific parameters

The latest camera systems along with sewer crawlers can detect issues and measure various parameters in large diameter pipes. Rotating camera heads with optical zoom can, for example, tackle the following:

Inspections inside oval-profiled sewers
Measurements of pipe ovality
Determining the size of cracks, socket overlaps, and pipe incline
Furthermore, everything is written down in a record and recorded on video on a CD or DVD.

Process of the piping camera test

Cleaning the pipe of sediments and scaling
Actual camera test of the piping
Evaluation of inspection results and diagnosis
Cataloguing the data in a pipe ‘passport’ (CD, DVD)
Proposing a solution to the pipe issues
Rectifying local defects or overall rehabilitation if required

The camera test of a pipe is just one piece in the puzzle of other work closely related to sewer monitoring. This is why it is convenient to commission a contractor equipped with all the machinery and technologies to take comprehensive care of the sewers – a ‘one-stop shop’.