Thanks to the hard work and dedication of City Sewer‘s employees, Tom and Chris have been given the opportunity to share the ownership of City Sewer with them. Chris and I would like to thank my parents, Bob and Luanne, for giving us the opportunity to expand on what was already an amazing company that has provided great jobs and services to the Tri City area for 30 years. Chris and I would also like to extend a special thanks to Brad Cliff, City Sewer’s first employee, who has worked especially hard for 30 years to help make City Sewer what it is today. We would like to thank Ray Torres, Pat Kenny, and Mike Estrada, three of our employees, along with Brad, that were at City Sewer when Tom joined City Sewer in 2008. We would like to thank all of City Sewer’s employees that have joined our team, for working hard to help make this opportunity a possibility. Finally, thanks to our customers that have allowed us the opportunity to provide them services over 30 years. Moving forward, City Sewer, an employee owned company, is committed to providing the same quality, honest, and dependable service it has provided since Bob and Luanne purchased it in 1993.

Combination Machine Gets to the Root of the Problem

The Buckhardt Drain services approximately 280 acres of land and affects approximately 340 parcels of mostly residential property in Bridgeport Township, Saginaw County, Mich. The Saginaw County Drain Commission is responsible for this 24-in. line, which runs nearly 500 ft through a heavily wooded residential area.

Root incursion is fairly common in drains running through wooded areas, but this line was almost 75% full of roots, which seriously affected the ability of the drain to handle outflows from the area. Because of its location, it would have been nearly impossible to replace the drain, and certainly not without significant physical and financial impact on the community.

In search of a simpler solution, the Saginaw County Public Works Commission contacted R.B. Satkowiak’s City Sewer Cleaners to ask if it could work out a solution to this problem without requiring a major construction project. In just two days, Satkowiak’s crew used a Vac-Con Combination machine combined with a special KEG root cutter
attachment to cut and remove the root growth from the line.

The root cutter uses high-pressure water from the combination machine to rotate the cutting blades and propel the cutter through the pipe. The high-pressure water flow also flushes the cuttings from the line, or pulls them back to a catch basin or access point, where the vacuum system, also on the machine, can recover the material. After completion, a camera systemis inserted in the line to confirm that all of the roots have been successfully removed. Although not an inexpensive or simple project, the process is significantly less costly and has far less impact than excavation and replacement.

“I could not believe the amount of roots Satkowiak’s crew was able to remove from this storm sewer,” said Matt Rappley, public works commissioner for Saginaw County. “I was already preparing myself for a major replacement project that would have involved the removal of many trees from a very nice wooded area, and would have changed the landscape for several homeowners, at a hefty expense to the county. Satkowiak’s crew saved us a ton of money and hassle.”