Worker rescued after being swept through sewers

Man survives mile-long trip through Missouri sewerage system after becoming unhooked from safety line
A worker who descended into a city sewerage system on Tuesday became unhooked from his safety line and was pushed through a pipe 69cm (27in) wide for more than a mile before his calls for help were heard and he was rescued.

Daniel Collins, of Collins, Missouri, was in a critical condition at St Luke's hospital in Kansas City.

The South Metropolitan fire district chief, Randy Adams, said Collins was being treated for hypothermia and given antibiotics because he may have swallowed sewage.

Collins disappeared soon after 8am on Tuesday after descending into the sewerage system in Raymore. Adams said crews searched manholes along a 1.5-mile route near a golf course.

After about 90 minutes, a firefighter and paramedic, Antonio Smith, heard Collins calling out: "Guys, I'm down here. Can you help me?"

Smith was lowered into the sewerage chamber and found Collins about 3.6 metres down. Collins appeared to have some bruises but was able to speak, Smith told KMBC-TV.

"It was a miracle to find him in that condition," Smith said.

He said he put Collins over his shoulder, and crews topside helped lift him out. Firefighters covered Collins with coats while waiting for an air ambulance.

Adams said Collins "was not totally coherent. He was basically in and out, and he was very weak".

Collins was tethered when he descended into the sewer and was still wearing the harness when he was found. It was unclear how he became unhooked, which allowed him to be pushed through the pipe by rushing water.

Raymore officials said Collins's employer, Rosetta Construction of Springfield, was working on parts of the city's sewerage system.

Sourced from www.guardian.co.uk

Understanding the Cause of Sewer Blockages with Exeter University

Due to low ‘visibility’, sewerage systems are inherently difficult to monitor, maintain and rehabilitate. However, in the interest of maintaining a public health barrier and preventing environmental pollution, their continued rehabilitation is essential.

Maintenance of sewerage systems is very costly and proper management is often hampered by financial constraints. As a result, a reactive ‘management by crisis’ approach is often adopted whereby maintenance is carried out as and when a service failure is reported. There is however limited scope to reduce the number of sewer blockages occurring through the sole use of reactive maintenance.

The project is being funded through the Stream IDC, an industrial doctorate centre for the water industry and is part of research collaboration between WRc and the Centre for Water Systems at the University of Exeter. The collaborative project is targeted at improving sewer operation, with the aim of the initial study being two-fold:

1. to improve sewer performance in terms of blockage occurrence per km/yr and
2. to reduce the total cost of sewer maintenance incurred by the sewerage undertaker.

The work will improve the way that sewerage undertakers diagnose their causes of blockage and carry out work to prevent reoccurrence. This improved methodology will be developed by achieving a better understanding of the mechanics of sewer blockage occurrence, specifically by identifying under what circumstances sewers begin to show a propensity to blockage formation.

Better understanding of the mechanics of blockage formation will improve the sewerage undertaker's ability to predict where blockages are most likely to occur and therefore manage this aspect of sewerage maintenance on a more proactive basis.

For further information contact Trefor Hillas at trefor.hillas@wrcplc.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 1793 865089.

Sourced from Wrc plc