In most facilities, what you can’t see is what costs you the most.
While day-to-day operations focus on production, staffing, preventative maintenance, and equipment performance, the underground infrastructure, the pipes, manholes, and systems that carry water, wastewater, byproducts, and chemicals, often gets overlooked.
Until something goes wrong.
A single sewer backup, collapsed pipe, or hidden leak can lead to:
- Production downtime
- Contamination concerns
- Premature equipment failure
- EPA compliance issues
- Costly emergency repairs
- Safety hazards for employees
And the biggest issue?
Most facilities don’t know their true level of risk.
The Hidden Reality: Facility Age ≠ Pipe Health
Even well-maintained facilities rarely perform routine assessments on underground piping. Many managers assume that:
- “If we haven’t had a backup lately, we’re fine.”
- “Our pipes are mostly PVC—those last forever.”
- “We’ll address problems when we need to.”
Putting band-aids on issues in order to close those work orders.
But data from thousands of assessments tells a different story:
- Corrosion often begins 10–15 years before surface symptoms appear
- Manholes and collection systems degrade faster than expected
- Older facilities commonly have multiple pipe materials—each with different failure points
- Food & beverage and industrial waste dramatically accelerates wear
- Many facilities do not have a documented inspection or maintenance plan
The result: Facilities are unknowingly operating with medium to high underground risk.
So We Built a Tool to Help You Know Your Facility’s True Risk Level
Ellingson’s Pipe Rehabilitation team created a quick, no-cost Pipe Risk Assessment designed specifically for:
- Plant Managers
- Facility Managers
- Operations Leaders
- Maintenance Supervisors
- Environmental & Utility Managers
The assessment takes less than 2 minutes and provides an instant snapshot of your underground infrastructure risk.
What the Assessment Measures
Your risk score is based on the biggest factors affecting pipe failure, including:
Facility Type: Food & beverage, chemical, industrial, and wastewater facilities naturally operate at higher risk levels due to corrosive flow and high demand.
Age of the Piping System: The older the system, the more likely hidden scaling, corrosion, cracking, or pipe material failures are already in motion.
Number of Connected Structures: More buildings = more flow = more stress points (and more opportunities for failure).
Pipe Material Types: Concrete, cast iron, and galvanized steel each deteriorate in different ways, and some much faster than others.
Waste Types: From sanitary wastewater to industrial byproducts, what flows through your system directly affects system lifespan.
Historical Symptoms: Backups, odors, leaks, and sinkholes are all early warning signs that shouldn’t be ignored.
Maintenance Frequency: Reactive maintenance often signals growing system strain.
Budget Planning: Facilities with proactive budgets in place typically avoid the highest-cost failures.
Why This Assessment Matters for Your Facility
Most managers don’t know whether their facility is in a low, moderate, or high-risk category until failure forces emergency action.
This assessment gives you:
- A clear picture of your facility’s underground health
- A custom PDF report showing your risk level (green/yellow/red)
- Recommended next steps based on your score
- Insight into whether your facility should schedule a camera assessment, cleaning, or long-term rehabilitation plan
Think of this as your first step toward a predictable, budget-controlled infrastructure strategy, instead of relying on emergency repairs.
Why Ellingson Created The Pipe Risk Assessment
For decades, Ellingson has helped facilities across the nation extend the life of their infrastructure using:
- Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) lining
- Manhole rehabilitation
- Cleaning & jetting
- CCTV inspections
- Predictive maintenance programs
- Non-disruptive trenchless solutions
We’ve seen firsthand how preventable failures become expensive emergencies, simply because stakeholders didn’t know their risk level early enough.
This tool changes that.
Take the Pipe Risk Assessment
If you manage a facility and want to reduce downtime, protect production flow, avoid unplanned costs, and improve long-term infrastructure planning, this assessment is built for you.
It takes less than 2 minutes, and you’ll immediately receive:
- Your facility’s risk category
- A simple visual indicator
- A personalized PDF report
- Recommended next steps
- Insight to help you plan for maintenance and capital budgets