Vicksburg’s state-of-the-art sewer camera equipment — which is housed in an 8-by-16-foot trailer — is not so state-of-the-art anymore and will get a $28,900 overhaul.

The expense was OK’d Monday by North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beaument to update technology and streamline the five cameras used to find cracked and broken sewer lines. Mayor Laurence Leyens was in Washington, D.C., with other local delegates on a lobbying trip.

“It’s like a computer. Six months after you buy one the software is obsolete,” Don Womack, utilities director, said of the system.

The camera trailer was purchased about 2 1/2 years ago for $140,000, Womack said. It will be taken to Aries Industries in Waukesha, Wis. — where it was purchased — to be outfitted with a newer camera system and software.

Womack said the sewer cameras have saved the city time and money as sewer department workers no longer have to guess where leaks and breaks are located.

“It used to be that we had to dig up the street or somebody’s yard and use a flashlight to look for leaks or breaks,” he explained. “The camera technology is just so much faster and allows us to do less unnecessary digging.”

The camera trailer will likely be taken to Wisconsin today, and will be out of service for about a week, estimated Womack.

Camera Technician Asa Wren said the cameras used can travel up to 1,000 feet through pipes measuring anywhere from 4- to 36-inches in diameter. While two of the cameras are portable, the rest are fixed to the trailer. One of the cameras, called “the badger,” weights about 25 pounds and runs on six wheels through storm drains. The computer technology on the trailer allows Wren to take color photos of the storm drains, as well as make DVDs and VHS tapes.

The cameras also have sensors attached to them that allow someone above ground to locate its precise location below.

“It just takes all of the guesswork out of the job,” said Wren, a six-year employee of the sewer department. “The new technology will allow us to do it even faster and more accurately.”

The cameras complement the “smoke tests” the sewer department also performs to detect leaks and breaks in the sewer system, whereby smoke is blown through the pipes. Smoke that winds up coming through the earth will pinpoint where a leak is, while any of the non-hazardous smoke that enters a residence or business denotes a problem with the building’s plumbing work, said Womack.   

Many of the storm drain and sewer line problems in the city are due to clay pipes that were installed around 1906, said Womack. Those that leak or break are replaced with modern plastic piping.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com.