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 U.U.L.L., Underground Utility and Leak Locators Association, is a new Atlanta based trade group brought together by Bob Davis (President), John Middleton (V.P.) and other concerned contractors active in the "locating" arena. Mr. Davis contacted me and gave a brief overview of the organization, its objectives and why such an organization of this type is needed. My response was, "Please send me some info."One of the great benefits of writing a monthly column, here in the CLEANER is that is gives me a powerful spotlight that I can point so that you, the reader can stay abreast of what's going on behind the scenes in the industry. The term, "locating" is a much larger umbrella than we in plumbing, drain cleaning and pumping typically use. Primarily, we look for leaking water lines, profile sewer systems or trace an occasional underground electrical line. I must admit that these basic applications can be "hair-pulling" experiences, but rest assured that professional locators need to know more, much more. Suppose you're repairing one of your favorite customer's plumbing. The customer turns to you and asks, "Gee, Mr. Plumber, our built-in swimming pool is losing 3 inches of water daily and we hardly ever go in for a swim. When we operate the pool equipment there is no evidence of any leaks. Can you find out what's happening? Probably not. Your best bet is to call a locator with pool experience. . When municipalities want to find pinhole leaks in a 500ft long, 4-inch water main under the street, who do they call—professional locators. Looking for an electrical shortcircuits in trans-oceanic telephone cables? Call a locating pro. Need to find leaks in an oil rig? You guessed it—a professional locator. Suppose you owned a gas station and the old, underground tanks need to be excavated for replacement. Before anything takes place, the environmental authorities want all existing systems pinpointed to minimize the hazardous risks and backhoe accidents. Numerous trenching caveats exist beneath gas station areas, locating everything accurately is paramount. Who do you call—a professional locator. Have you ever tried to trace a plastic water line with your standard locating equipment— you can't. One needs costly, specialized equipment: either that utilizes pressure-wave technology or measures the waters' conductivity levels. Who owns such equipment—professional locators. These people are the magicians of the industry. They find the unfindable, they trace the untraceable, they detect the most minute problems in large municipal plumbing lines, they work with underground cables and telephone lines and they make the invisible, visible, with fluorescent dyes and smoke generating devices. It is a huge field, ever growing and increasing in sophisticated machinery and innovative techniques.
While waiting for the promised info, I asked myself a question and then began to research for the answers. Here's my question: "Where and how does someone acquire training of all the diverse locating applications and get to rub elbows with others in the field, including manufacturers?" I searched through numerous plumbing magazines, hundreds of articles and advertisements and scoured the Internet until my search engines said "uncle." The results show very little, except for franchises that offer such training. To get this training one must find a trade group that deals specifically with such issues. I must say, if these trade organizations do exist, they certainly don't make themselves readily available to our industry.
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