Red Valve Co.
undefinedThe Decatur, Ill., city council embarked on a three-year, $14 million downtown street enhancement project. As part of the project, the council decided to take a proactive approach to ensure that foul sewer odors do not continue to make their way into the downtown area. In addition to a solution that would be effective in eliminating odors, the city council also wanted a green solution that would be inexpensive to install and operate.
The Solution
The city’s public works department and engineering division was tasked to find the right solution to mitigate the offensive sewer odor. Sanitary Sewer Engineer Paul Caswell researched possible solutions on the internet and came across an animated video of the CheckMate inline check valve. The video shows how effective the product is at preventing the backflow of sewage and sewer gas.
“When I saw the video, I knew the CheckMate was a strong potential solution – one we should research further,” Caswell said.
Additional research was provided by case studies located on the Red Valve Co. and Tideflex Technologies website. The case studies illustrate in-depth how the CheckMate inline check valve is able to prevent both sewage and gas backflow, making it ideal for interceptor and manhole installations. The CheckMate proved to be a suitably cost-saving and low-maintenance green solution for Decatur’s sewer odor control problem.
To provide adequate space for installation, a new 8-ft-diameter manhole was constructed specifically for a 36-in. CheckMate. The total cost of the valve and construction of the manhole was relatively inexpensive.
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The Results
The Checkmate inline check valve was installed and has worked flawlessly to block the back draft of offensive sewer odors. Downtown Decatur no longer has any offensive smell, and as usual with underground sewer improvements, few citizens are aware of how simple and inexpensive it was to solve the problem. Best of all, there has been no maintenance expense. The CheckMate valve was a cost effective solution to a nagging problem.