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NASSCO Report – Infiltration Control Grouting Committee: Education and Beyond

The term municipal grouting has come to be known as a proven and reliable technique using injection grouts to stop infiltration and stabilize soils at all four points of sewer entry — mainlines, laterals, lateral connections, and manholes.

Injection grouts – also known as chemical grouts — have been in use for over 60 years. Originally used for slope stabilization in the 1950s, injection grouts progressed to the sewer system for infiltration control in the 1960s. The first mainline sewer pipe was successfully grouted in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas in 1962.

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While injection grouting technology has seen a lifetime of development and advancement, education on the safe, efficient, and successful long-term use of injection grouting remains the forefront of our industry.

Detailed specifications and standards from NASSCO are readily available online to download for free, and a Grouting Unified Safe Operating Practices Program (USOPP) has been added to the library of courses that can be found on The NASSCO Training Source. Additional resources such as white papers, videos, and a collection of papers have been added to nassco.org/resources, providing visitors multiple opportunities to learn more about grouting. But when it comes to needing deeper, in-person training, grout schools are the way to go.

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The first Grout Boot Camp — now known as Municipal Sewer Grout School — was developed by Dick Schantz of Aries Industries and the inaugural course was hosted in June 2006 in Florida. Since then, dozens of grout schools have hosted hundreds of individuals with hands on opportunities, classroom sessions, and live grouting demonstrations providing an invaluable experience for contractors, engineers, and municipalities.

The goal of Municipal Sewer Grout School is to educate individuals on why, when, and how to use injection grouts safely and successfully for infiltration control and soil stabilization — from grout products, packer equipment, and grout trucks or rigs.

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Municipal Sewer Grout Schools are hosted around the nation multiple times a year by NASSCO’s Infiltration Control Grouting Committee (ICGC) member companies. The ICGC is an industry committee whose members represent contractors, engineers, utility owners, suppliers and manufacturers with the common goal of educating individuals about grouting — from novice to expert level — on the importance of proactive versus reactive I&I control.

Attending the two-day course includes classroom presentations, safety training, hands on equipment troubleshooting and repair, lateral and mainline packer operation and maintenance, grout truck system operations, optimizing grout mixes and additives, and much more from industry experts with decades of experience. Knowledge is a core value of NASSCO and education is one of the core missions of ICGC.

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What’s ahead for 2024 for the Grouting Industry

  • NASSCO’s Inspector Training Certification Program (ITCP) Grouting Course (e-learning) – Developed with the inspector in mind, this program will provide students with the understanding of how the proper application of grout extends the lifecycle of existing sewers through ground stabilization and I&I control.
  • ICGC’s Test Cell Research Webinar – Based on NASSCO’s 2023 White Paper on the Test Cell Studies, this webinar expands on the background and findings of the study by ICGC members through a live experience presented by those who participated in the study. Download the White Paper at nassco.org/resources.
  • Upcoming Municipal Sewer Grout Schools – Waukesha, Wisconsin – Sept. 18-19

As grouting industry members, it is our duty to educate engineers, municipalities, owners, operators, project inspectors, and decision makers on how controlling infiltration will extend the life of our collection systems, regain capacity in our overloaded systems, stabilize pipes, help reduce flow to wastewater treatment plants, minimize SSOs and sewer back-ups, and save operating costs.
For information on upcoming grout schools, seminars, and events, or more information about injection grouting, visit nassco.org/grouting.

Jessica Williams is marketing manager with Avanti International and is a NASSCO Infiltration Control Grouting committee member.

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