Wastewater Sewer System
Cleveland Utilities’ ultimate goal through their sewer rehabilitation efforts is to have a water tight sanitary sewer system, with no type of inflow by roof drains, basement drains or infiltration from broken sewer pipes and leaking sewer manholes causing wet weather overflows. Cleveland Utilities is responsible for the rehabilitation of 204 miles of sanitary sewers that range in pipe sizes of 6 inch diameter through 52 inch diameter and 4000 sanitary sewer manholes. The type of pipe materials used in our sewer system will vary from clay, concrete, cast iron , ductile iron, high density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride ( PVC ) depending upon the era in which the pipeline had been constructed. The manholes in our system will vary from brick and mortar manholes to the pre-cast concrete manholes that we use in today’s sewer construction.Cleveland Utilities has 3 full time crews devoted to television inspection and the rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer system. The television crew will select a section of pipe line and TV it to visually locate any broken or defective pipe. The TV crew will document all of the service tees for future reference as the TV work is performed. The rehab crews will take the information gathered by the TV inspection and excavate down to the sewer main and make a point repair by replacing the broken section of pipe. Annually the television inspection crew will TV and clean approximately 30,000 L.F. of sewer main. The rehab crews will complete an average of 300 to 500 sewer main point repairs, raise and seal 150 manholes, rehab 160 sewer service lines from the sewer main in the street to the customers’ property line and rehab or replace 25 sewer manholes.
Cleveland Utilities is continually looking at new methods of trenchless technology and ways to upgrade and better rehabilitate their sanitary sewer system. We have in the past couple of years tried to coordinate our sewer rehab work with the Public Works Department where CU has sanitary sewers in the paved streets, so we can make the necessary repairs on the sewers before the streets are resurfaced. Through Cleveland Utilities’ sanitary sewer rehabilitation efforts we not only comply with the requirements of the Tennessee Department of Water Pollution Control, but provide a safe and clean environment for both the people and wildlife in the Cleveland and Bradley County area in which to work and live.