The National Clay Pipe Institute welcomes Kent Carlson as NCPI’s VP. Kent has been working with NCPI since the first part of July, after a very successful career of more than 30-years with the city of Los Angeles. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Kent started working for the city as a machinist and worked his way up to Sewer Operations Manager.
While at the city of LA, Kent invented a number of tools for cleaning sanitary sewer pipes, including:
- The Hollywood Hustler (reverse three-bladed root saw used on mechanical rodders)
- Sparky or the Rat Rod (a high rpm / low-torque hydro-mechanical can cutter, used to cut protruding laterals and remove mineral deposits)
- Hailey’s Comet (a tail piece nozzle for hydraulic root saws)
- A quick change coupling for mechanical rodding trucks that has reduced operator injuries
That background gives Kent a unique “in the trenches” (pun intended) understanding of the challenges facing municipal sewer professionals. When the city of LA began tracking such things, there were over 1,000 spills per calendar year. Using aggressive cleaning techniques and tools, in 2017, that spill rate was just 70 per year for over 6,700 miles of sanitary sewers.
“I loved my job and the people I worked with at the city,” said Carlson, “but I had a strong team in-place that no longer really required my daily participation. The opportunity to meet more sewer rats like me and work with them on a broader set of challenges was too good to pass up! ”
Find out more about him in this Gizmodo article, see the Municipal Sewer & Water article about his efforts in Los Angeles or visit his YouTube channel to see some of his work.
About NCPI
The National Clay Pipe Institute represents the clay pipe industry to sewer system decision makers. They offer the unique perspective, history and knowledge of the longest-serving and longest-lasting pipe product available.
For more information on NCPI, visit their website here.