Axl Rose said it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain. Well, it’s hard to watch that rain inundate your collections system and overwhelm your treatment plant, too. He probably would have mentioned that in the song, but it’s not quite as lyrical as the whole candle thing.

Inflow and infiltration is insidious. It brings sand and sediment into pipes, prematurely wears lift station pumps and can overwhelm treatment facilities, which can lead to a whole host of other problems. According to the U.S. EPA, 50 percent of all flows to wastewater treatment plants come from I&I. The costs incurred are substantial, and the resulting problems can be catastrophic. Enjoy dealing with SSOs? Anyone?

The profile on Naperville, Illinois, in this issue tells the story of how that utility has attacked its own I&I problem and significantly reduced flows to its wastewater treatment plant. There was no one magic bullet, as the story points out, but there were a couple indispensible methods, the combination and coordination of which became a powerful weapon.

Those methods? Cured-in-place pipe and grout. CIPP has been a widely accepted approach to solving all sorts of pipe maladies for some time now, but grouting hasn’t yet earned an equal reputation. When addressing I&I specifically, however, CIPP has its limitations. What Naperville has discovered, with great results, is that grouting can pay perfect complement to CIPP and effectively make up for those limitations.

Grouting is also the subject of this month’s Tech Talk feature. We talked to experts from Avanti International, Prime Resins and Sealing Systems Inc., and built on the example from the Naperville story to show you how and why grouting should be among your approaches to I&I reduction.

There are many factors to consider when choosing grout types and application methods. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but if you understand the basics, you’ll have a much easier time selecting materials and methods that will serve your system well. Understanding how grout and CIPP can be used together will really boost the potential for positive results.

And if that’s not enough information on grouting and I&I reduction, we have another opportunity for you. On Nov. 18, in conjunction with Avanti International, National Power Rodding (Carlyon Corp) and the Naperville Department of Public Utilities, MSW will be hosting a webinar on the subject.

Learn directly from Naperville supervisor Tony Conn and John Manijak of National Power Rodding through the lessons they’ve learned in their own work. The webinar will cover how to establish and execute a plan of action to resolve infiltration.

I’m excited to serve as moderator, and I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity.

Participation in the 60-minute, live online learning event is complimentary and earns 1 PDH credit.

To register for the event, visit http://bit.ly/1jmNZDf

Enjoy this month’s issue.

Note: To view the webinar at your convenience, click here.