A neighborhood in Missouri had a heavily root-bound easement. Access was difficult, as the 1,280-foot line traveled across the backyards of houses and was situated on a lake. The line was laid unevenly, which gave roots more opportunity to invade. There were continual blockages, with several houses experiencing backups, and the municipality put the easement on a saw, cut, and flush routine program, that was conducted twice a year. However, they were also called out for emergencies in between the maintenance visits, as there were consistent problems.
Duke’s applied RazoRooter® II to the entire easement. The hose released and sprayed the foam in all directions, allowing it to adhere to roots and penetrate through Wye connections to kill those roots, without harming trees or other aboveground vegetation.
A few months after the foam was applied in January, the city ran its CCTV through the pipe and the roots had decayed, “like you see cigarette ashes crumble,” said the operations manager for the city. “Our camera made it right through the pipe. We haven’t had any blockages since. This has saved our city a tremendous amount on time, lost wages, and expenses. We can rededicate the time we were spending to different areas of the town.”
