The Village of Barrington set out to televise, inspect and map the sanitary system in one Sub-Area each summer. GHA has completed all 5 initial Sub-Areas. The purpose of the project was to not only clean and assess the condition of the sanitary sewer system, but to improve the accuracy and depth of the GIS utility data.

The Village maintains approximately 1,500 sanitary structures and 53 miles of gravity main. The process began with GPS locating and manhole inspections. Storm sewer and water main utility surface structures were also collected. Sewer cleaning, smoke testing and televising followed, which aid in mapping the underground sanitary network. Coordinating the use of consistent pipe and structure ID numbers ahead of the field work enabled GHA to tie the inspection and televising data back into the GIS utility layers. Structure locations were mapped to near centimeter precision and now include rim and invert elevations, structure material, size and condition. Similarly, the gravity main data includes elevations, material, diameter, lining information and condition.

For most municipalities, smoke testing, televising and structure inspections are part of regular utility maintenance programs. By collecting information in the field and tying it into the GIS database, the Village now has a comprehensive resource for planning and budgeting future projects and maintenance, as well as more accurate locations of their assets.