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RootX success stories
Darwin Haney
Utility Maintenance Superintendent
Ponca City Water and Wastewater Department, OK
Darwin Haney, utility maintenance superintendent for the Ponca City Water and Wastewater Department in Oklahoma, had a clear reason to switch to RootX in 2006: a clear pipe.Four years earlier, Haney’s predecessor had treated a pipe with RootX as part of a trial. Last year, when his crews ran a video camera down to inspect that pipe, “it was still clear,” he said.
Ponca City, population 25,224, has a regular sewer maintenance program, taking 14-15 months to inspect 180 miles of pipe and treat it as necessary. Haney said his crews start with the systems trunk lines, then areas where roots have been a problem in the past. Ponca City uses the RootX FDU 100 foam dispersal unit “to cover the whole pipe, get to the roots on top,” Haney said. The city also uses RootX jars to clear out manholes with root intrusions.
Crews have run cameras down the pipes as they’re treated to make sure the foam reaches the top of the pipe. By contrast, the copper sulfate compound the city had used previously would only reach about 1/4 of the pipe diameter, where, Haney said, “it wasn’t doing any good.” As an added benefit, RootX has also been more economical than the copper sulfate compound.
About six weeks after treating a line with RootX, Ponca City crews send the camera back down the pipe to check on the results. Not only can they see evidence of root decay, there are also clear traces of the foam on the pipe walls. Haney said Ponca City will continue using RootX. “It’s doing the job that I want it to do.”
