It’s not the first choice for many of us but it’s one of the many essential jobs that need doing. The maintenance of our drains and sewers has to be seen to at all costs. If the drains fail the streets and our homes would become extremely unpleasant places. At least now the drains and sewerage worker can use CCTV Drainage Surveys like those from www.wilkinson-env.co.uk to see where the problem is rather than wade through caverns and metres of drains to find the problem. What does an average day mean for these brave individuals and teams?
First of all, it’s not as dirty as you might think. In fact, the job is quite a technical one in these modern times. As we’ve mentioned above, the use of CCTV has made the job considerably less dirty and smelly as the workers can guide remotes into the sewers. For the most part, there is a no-dig solution to most of the issues they find. Linings can be replaced and obstructions cleared without having to get into the drain. A no-dig solution is the best solution all round as it means the ground can be left undisturbed and does not need obstructive work done on it. This is a great help if the drain is under a road network. Weeks and weeks of delay can be avoided by using this equipment to get straight to the source of the issue. If you do need to go underground you are provided with full protective gear, or PPE as it is better known. But there should be no need to do so with the use of CCTV.
In fact, you’d be surprised at how much drainage work is actually based on human to human, face to face, traditional contact. The needs of the client are what is paramount so for a good part of the job you’re talking and communicating with the customer to find out what their needs are. Having a blocked drain or sewer is an unpleasant business and the most important thing is that you can be the reassurance that everything is going to be ok and that you can fix it.
The other thing about working in this industry is that there are comprehensive training and benefits packages. As it is such dirty work you can be sure that the remuneration is pretty good. You’ll also get taught to use some of the most hi-tech surveillance equipment available on the market. Some firms have even set up a “virtual sewer” system that you can train in using the latest Virtual Reality technology ( they haven’t added alligators as the old legends suggest!) There are plenty of transferable skills that you can pick up from this line of work and it’s not as labour intensive as you would think with many people staying in the industry until retirement.
