The City of Fort Collins has just wrapped up the monitoring phase with Ayres Associates , after about three years of intensive work , Fater said . Now the City is using the data to go into the field and pinpoint exactly where the openings are in the system and why they exist , whether it is leaking manholes , broken pipes , or some other problem .
Beyond finding – and ultimately fixing – the source of the leaks , Fater said flow monitoring has had other benefits , such as finding areas where there are capacity problems and using the data to compare with its hydraulic models . “ The better data we have , the better equipped we are to solve any problems that may crop up ,” he said .
Both Matkins and Fater have been pleased with Ayres Associates ’ service . “ Ayres Associates works closely with our operations crew ; we have a high degree of trust in them ,” Matkins said . “ In fact , the trust is so high that Chris
( Pletcher ) is almost considered an extension of our staff ; he is able to make decisions and changes on the fly . We ’ re lucky to have Ayres right down the road .”
Fater said having engineers doing the flow monitoring brings many benefits . “ Ayres has been great . It ’ s not an easy job to go and crawl into manholes ; it ’ s certainly not a glamorous job ,” he said . “ It ’ s good having someone in the manholes with knowledge of hydraulics ; they know what they ’ re looking for .”
And for Pletcher , he said he relishes the opportunity . “ The whole reason I went into civil engineering is because I love going outdoors , but really a lot of engineering is sitting at a computer . To be able to go outside and see real things happen – sewer monitoring does that .”
Above : Civil engineers Florian Fiebig , left , and John Eklund , right , view the inside of the sewer while conducing sewer flow monitoring activities .
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