Sewer & Drain Line Locating in British Columbia

Sewer and drain lines are among the most difficult utilities to locate because they are typically non-metallic (PVC, ABS, or clay) and flow under gravity rather than pressure. Conventional electromagnetic locating methods do not work on non-conductive sewer pipes. We use a combination of CCTV camera inspection with an integrated sonde transmitter that is pushed through the pipe, broadcasting a traceable signal to the surface receiver. This method provides continuous tracking of the pipe route and depth. For larger diameter sewers and storm drains, we deploy a crawler camera with a high-power sonde for tracing depths exceeding 3 metres. The sonde tracking provides real-time GPS coordinates of the pipe alignment, and the CCTV footage documents pipe condition at every point.