Under Our Feet

These guys were out early preparing to fix the sewers on Evening Street!

The City of Worthington provides many basic utilities to home and business owners.  But perhaps the most critical is one that many folks never think about...until things back up in the basement or a bathroom overflows.  Underneath our feet, under the ground is a vast system of pipes called the “Sanitary Sewer”.  This system carries away the waste we flush, the water we drain from dishwashers, showers and laundry, and the garbage that goes down the disposal to a waste treatment plant south of Columbus.  These systems do age and need regular maintenance and upgrades to keep it all “flowing downhill” so to speak.  Currently, the City of Worthington is performing a variety of projects to not only keep it all flowing, but to ensure back‐ups do not occur due to root intrusion, pipe failure, or flood due to way too much water trying to flow away at one time.

Amongst the projects currently in progress, crews from Miller Pipeline were contracted to perform “Cured In Place Piping” to accomplish all this.  The crew uses equipment to infuse a length of sewer pipe with an epoxy type resin which then clings to the walls of the older clay pipe, and quickly hardens in place.  The result is essentially a new plastic, water tight sewer line inside of the older clay line which may be showing its age.  It’s an inexpensive and unobtrusive way to install what can be considered new sewer pipe without ever digging up the street, the sidewalk, or front yards to get the job done.  Once finished, the line has increased capacity and efficiency allowing water and waste to flow, tree roots cannot grow through cracks and block the lines, and structural integrity of the pipe is restored to prevent collapse and costly flooding.  

In addition, engineers are currently designing brand new replacement sewers to be built at North and Morning Streets, as well a larger sewer known as the Northbrook Sewer to better handle sewage in the southern parts of Worthington. City Service and Engineering crews routinely inspect the lines via a robotic camera, clean and degrease the lines by flushing and vacuuming out debris, and cutting out and treating tree roots that may intrude into some pipes.

So next time you flush, wash your hands or dump your coffee cup, rest assured the City of Worthington is active and vigilant, working hard and making sure when it goes down the drain, it goes away for good.  For more questions or information call the Worthington Department of Service and Engineering at 614‐431‐2425. Rob Chandler works for Worthington's City Service and Engineering Department.