



Our interest is in the future because we are going to spend the rest of our lives there.
TRIC Tools is committed to rebuilding America's waste water infrastructure. We've been doing this quietly from our home in the Bay Area for 10 years. In 1996, we invented the residential pipe bursting system and the methods to tackle sanitary sewer overflows (SSO's) at their source, the residental sewer lateral.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates there are more than 40,000 sanitary sewer overflows (SSO's) in the United States each year. Robert Lee, a former Director of Wastewater Management for the EPA, has stated that residentail sewer laterals contribute as much as 70 percent of total infiltration into sewers, using reserve capacity and causing or contributing to SSOs. As such, they must be addressed as part of an overall sewer system management plan to prevent SSOs.
In November 2002, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that cities will need to spend between $24.6 Billion and $41 Billion a year for the next 20 years to maintain satisfactory services and meet clean water standards. The EPA and the Water Infrastructure Network use slightly different estimates but agree with the CBO that projected expenditures will need to increase steadily in coming years as communities work to maintain and replace the infrastructure that is reaching the end of its useful life.
When pipeline infrastructure is not well maintained, inefficiencies occur. For example, in water distribution systems, this can lead to leakage and possible water shortages. In sewage systems, cracked and damaged pipes can cause wastewater seepage, leading to contamination of groundwater. These problems often give rise to related health and environmental impacts.
The oldest underground utility services are usually found close to the surface. Services installed later are most often found below or interwoven with the initial installations. Construction and repair work carried out from the surface inevitably disrupts traffic, business and other services. This disruption has a negative impact on the local environment in terms of air quality, noise, and other pollution, as well as on local vegetation and buildings. This, in turn, diminishes the quality of life for local residents. The provision and maintenance of safe and efficient utility services requires more environmentally sound technologies and approaches to ensure public support.
TRIC's technologies minimise the requirement for surface excavation and significantly reduce the environmental impacts of underground utility service installation, maintenance and repair. By minimising surface disruption, traffic congestion is significantly reduced, thereby reducing air and noise pollution. Furthermore, TRIC's technologies take advantage of existing pipeline materials and can minimise wastes caused by earth and pavement excavation.
TRIC WITHIN THE MATRIX OF BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND BENEFITS |
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Trenchless Technologies are recognized as an Environmentally Sustainable Technology (EST) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) . See Trenchless Technology Systems: An Environmentally Sound Technology. UNEP-DTIE-IETC/ISTT. (Accessed August 9, 2004).
