Sewer Cleaning

Cleaning Status and Cleaning Details fields

Video Transcript

In this video I'm going to show you how you can track your regular sewer cleaning or inspection progress through the use of a color-coded map like this one. It shows which sewer lines have not yet been inspected during this cycle and the results of the ones that have. So, let’s start by showing you how to setup your sewer layer to track this progress. This assumes you already have a sewer mains layer with every segment of sewer line already drawn. If you don't have that, Video 201 shows how to draw a sewer network. 

The first thing we are going to do is add a cleaning status field to our layer. To get to the Add/Remove Fields Screen, click on the Layers button and click on the layer. Then, click the More tab and click Add/Remove fields. Click Add Field here, and we’re going to title this field “Cleaning Results.” In the Field Type, select “PICK.” 

Now, in the pick list, I’m going to add options to describe the condition of the line discovered after the line was cleaned. We will use the blank choice to mean not yet cleaned. You might want to add more detailed choices to your pick list. These are just an example. Let’s add another field where we can record any specific problems we observe. Add text field called "Cleaning Details" Next, we are going to color code this layer based on the pick list field we just created. Click on the Settings tab and click classify next to the Line Color. Select the Cleaning Results field and Apply. We can customize our colors by selecting a different color here. Click Apply and Save Display Settings. If you look at the legend here, you can see the lines are color coded based on the cleaning results. 

Now that we have our layer setup, it’s time to start recording out progress. Each time you clean or inspect a segment of sewer you simply click on it and change the results to OK. You will notice that the sewer automatically changes color. If you run across a sewer line that has a few roots you might set the results to "Some Problems" and in our details field, I'll record "Roots".

If you don't want to record these results one at a time, you can alternately use the select and modify tool to mark multiple lines as "OK.” Click on the Menu button and click the Select and Modify tool. Then, draw around the area containing lines that are OK and click Set Field Value in the Action menu. Type OK in the Field Value and Confirm. Now, the selected lines are now green to show they are OK. 

Every few years when you restart your cleaning cycle you will want to first reset these cleaning fields so that you are starting with a blank slate. To do this, click on the layers button and click on your layer. Then, click on the Browse tab. In this Action Menu, select “Select All,” and then select “Set Field Value.” Pick your Cleaning Results field and set the field value at blank. Apply, then repeat the process for the Cleaning Details field. 

That is how to use your map for Sewer Cleaning. I hope this was helpful!