Why camera inspection matters in Akron
Akron's federal sewer consent decree, entered in 2014, has driven more than $1 billion of public investment through the Akron Waterways Renewed! program, according to the City. Most of that money has gone to large public projects such as interceptor tunnels and treatment upgrades. The City reports that 24 of the 26 required major projects are complete and that the Northside Interceptor Tunnel is scheduled to finish at the end of 2026.
What hasn't changed is the age of the private pipe connected to that system. Many Akron commercial and industrial buildings date back decades, and their building laterals, floor drains and yard storm lines have never been looked at. A camera inspection tells you what is actually in the ground before you buy a building, change its use, or spend money on repeated drain clearing.
Situations where we're usually called
- Redeveloping older industrial or commercial buildings. Locate and assess legacy floor drains, process lines and laterals before renovation plans are final.
- Pre-purchase due diligence on apartment buildings, retail centers and office properties.
- Recurring backups where the same line is being cleared over and over.
- Storm lines under parking lots before resurfacing or regrading.
- Municipal and engineering projects needing PACP-coded mainline and manhole data for design or capital planning.
What our inspection reports include
We record continuous video and code every observation to the NASSCO PACP standard, with manholes coded to MACP and laterals to LACP when needed. The report locates each defect by distance from the access point, grades its severity, and includes still photos. A short summary separates urgent defects from items that can wait, so a facility manager can make decisions without reading code tables.
Clean first, then inspect
Grease, roots and sediment hide cracks and offset joints. When a line is dirty, we hydro jet it before the camera run so the pipe wall is visible, and we can do both on the same visit.