Marine Electronics Ltd.
Two Model 1512 Pipe Profiling Sonars have been bought from Marine Electronics Ltd., U.K., by the National Water Main Cleaning Co. of Newark, N.J. The sonars are being used to provide a precise image below the water line of silt and debris buildup inside 700,000 ft of large diameter sewer pipes in New York City as part of an inspection and cleaning contract.
Equipped with this latest sonar technology, engineers from National Water Main Cleaning Co., which is part of the Carylon Corp., are now able to detect any damage and quantify the amount of silt and debris that has accumulated in any part of New York’s sewer network. This provides important cost benefits for customers by enabling cleaning crews to prioritize their work. Instead of scraping or hydro-jetting lengths of sewer pipe at random, images from the Marine Electronics Ltd. Pipe Profiling Sonars can reveal the areas requiring most urgent attention. By removing the worst blockages as a priority it will be possible to increase the capacity of New York’s sewer network without the need for any costly system expansion. It will also reduce the likelihood of fines being imposed due to environmental violations caused by flooding.
With the Marine Electronics Ltd. 1512 sonar head, mounted on a float or crawler, it can be pulled through the sewer to reveal exactly how much silt or debris is present below the water. When a CCTV camera is also mounted on the float, the exposed pipe can be visually inspected at the same time so that engineers can gain a complete understanding of the condition of the sewer.
Cable and CCTV camera systems were prepared by Inuktun of Vancouver, which also integrated the Marine Electronics Ltd. sonar system into the National Water Main Cleaning Co. truck. With the option of either 2,000 ft of copper cable or 7,000 ft of fiber-optic cable, the two technologies can be deployed on a float or a motorized tractor/pig to inspect significant lengths of sewer. The images obtained can be presented as a split display on a PC to provide a real time view of the pipe above and below the water simultaneously.
The success and cost benefits of this technology have quickly resulted in other Carylon Corp. companies also buying the Marine Electronics Ltd 1512 sonar systems. Ace Pipe Cleaning Inc. and Robinson Pipe Cleaning Co. can now also provide a service that enables the most serious blockages to be prioritized while saving its customers money by eliminating the need to clean sewers where no significant blockages exist. Post cleaning inspections can also be performed below the water to assure customers that the work has been satisfactory.
Marine Electronics Ltd. is based on the U.K. Channel Island of Guernsey. It is a leading manufacturer of advanced sonar systems and is able to work with customers in the development of unique products to meet specialized marine or industrial applications.
