A Twisty Maze Of Sewerbot Links, All Different 179
skids writes "Look before you sit! Sewer systems all
over the world are under seige by robots laying fiber to the curb -- and
beyond. There's even a standards body forming. (Doesn't that consitute a one-level recursion of 'pipes carrying filth'?)" It's been a while since we last mentioned these things.
Re:Sewer bots (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Jeez, insecurity all over again (Score:4, Informative)
That's why there's redundancy in the links. Fiber connections always have two or more links going through physically distant paths. Too many uninformed people operating backhoes around every city.
Re:IN SOVIET RUSSA (Score:2, Informative)
Re:security (Score:2, Informative)
Re:IN SOVIET RUSSA (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Why use sewer lines? (Score:3, Informative)
Speaking as a guy who was a plumber for ten years, I guarantee some guy with a drain snake will be cutting these on a regular basis. When you have 200 feet of snake and the run from the toilet to the curb is 100 feet blades won't know the difference between fibre lines and fibrous roots. Unless they can affix these lines to the uppermost part of the pipe, and they only use the large trunks, they are going to have problems.
Re:Why use sewer lines? (Score:1, Informative)
Instead of ripping out old water lines and sewer lines they have sold access to them to various carriers, and installed new water/sewer lines
What's left is a "data pipe" and the new water/sewer lines
Re:Why use sewer lines? (Score:4, Informative)
In this article [usatoday.com] they have a bit at the end detailing how it works. First the robot inserts steel rings into the pipe, then it drags the steel conduit into the pipe and attaches it to the rings.
The cable is then blown through the conduit with pressurized air.
I'm also fairly certain that if a site with fiber optic cable in its sewer pipes had plumbing problems, they'd be sure to let the plumber know before hand. There may even be warning lables attached to said pipes.
The limits of using sewer pipe (Score:2, Informative)
Sewer systems do rely on gravity --to get them to the nearest pumping station. Now where do you go? Wastewater stations are usually in some low lying area, some are close to or even inside a 100 year floodplain. Is this really a good place for a fiber switching center?
Several of you mentioned that sewage leaks in to the ground water. Uhh folks, it goes both ways. The term we use for this phenomenon is infiltration and inflow. Often the problem isn't leakage in to the ground water, it's leakage of ground water in to the sewer and overloading wastewater treatement plants. Problems include tree roots cutting through sewer pipes, shifting soil, and pipe deterioration. I'll be impressed if a robot can negotiate all of that. We have enough trouble getting our sewer pipe TV cameras in there to investigate blockage problems.
Someone is going to have to convince the sewer company that this extra volume of fiber in the sewer pipe isn't going to cause additional grease buildup, and isn't going to restrict flow. Many new and even the not-so-new suburban areas are stressing the capacity of existing sewer systems well beyond original design limits. Unless the system is very well maintained (it almost never is) or the pipe is very new and well below designed flow limits, I don't forsee many companies agreeing to this.