Robinson’s Joe Sullivan was invited to be a guest lecturer at Olivet Nazarene University. His class gave students the opportunity to learn about Infiltration/Inflow (I/I) from the perspective of a real-world Water/Wastewater engineering firm.

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Sullivan gave students examples from his more than 30 years of experience in the field.  Class topics included: the history of sewers, the engineering reversal of the Chicago River, the different types of sewers, i.e., storm, combined and sanitary, and an overview of what is I/I and why it is important.

 

Students also learned about regulatory compliance programs and their history, the Clean Water Act, Sewer System Evaluation Surveys (SSES), sewer rehabilitation methods (design and construction) as well as how they too could become water/wastewater professionals.

To break up the many topics covered, students were able to participate in a flow monitoring basin boundary delineation exercise with colored markers and full-size sewer system maps as well as virtual manhole inspections on laptops with 3D manhole inspection software and scans from previously inspected manholes.

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Overall, it was an enjoyable evening covering the importance of sewers with a great group of ONU students.