HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
Start with the inspections your crews already perform. Build from there.
Your city doesn’t need to have every piece of a private sewer lateral program in place to begin.
Forward Lateral combines hands-on consulting and software to help you launch a wastewater inspection program, educate property owners, and build the information needed to guide your next steps and laterals get fixed and I&I gets reduced.
Start with courtesy outreach—without changing your ordinance or shifting maintenance responsibility. As your program develops, bring full sewer lateral inspections (push-camera, often by a plumbing contractor) into the same process within your Forward Lateral dashboard. We’re a one-stop shop for all-things sewer lateral, no matter how you inspect.
1. Build a starting point that fits your city.
We work with your team to understand your existing inspection practices, municipal code, staffing, and goals for reducing inflow and infiltration (I&I).
Together, we establish a practical workflow: what crews document, how staff review findings, what property owners receive, and how follow-up is tracked.
You bring knowledge of your city. We bring experience designing the program and the software to run it.
2. Document what your crews are already seeing.
During routine mainline CCTV inspections, crews capture visible concerns at private lateral connections, including wye connections in poor condition.
Footage and observations are linked to the corresponding property, creating an organized record for city review.
These observations provide a starting point for outreach and, when appropriate, further inspection of the lateral.
3. Give property owners information they can understand.
After city review, property owners receive a clear report by email explaining what was observed and suggested next steps.
The initial program focuses on courtesy education: helping owners understand the connection serving their property and any concerns identified during the city’s inspection.
Findings, photographs, and available video stay together in a report owners can reference and share.
4. Make follow-through easier for everyone.
When an owner pursues further inspection or repairs, they can share the report with plumbing contractors.
Contractors submit inspection reports digitally. City staff review submissions and track follow-up in one place, the Forward Lateral dashboard. Property owners receive clear next steps if mandated.
Communications, inspection footage, and repair documentation stay connected to the property record, so staff can see what happened and what remains open.
5. Turn field observations into better program decisions.
Searchable records and data-rich dashboards help your city track where concerns are being found, which owners have been contacted, and where further inspections or repairs have been documented.
Use that information to prioritize follow-up, prepare council presentations, and evaluate how the program is progressing.
6. Expand the program as your city is ready.
Courtesy outreach creates a foundation. As evidence builds and local policies evolve, Forward Lateral supports more formal inspection and repair workflows.
Your city can add inspection triggers. At this stage, plumbing contractors are often called upon to submit formal sewer lateral inspection reports for the city to review. Triggers include:
Property sales
Construction and accessory dwelling units (ADUs)
Street resurfacing
Notices of violation
Both CCTV truck and plumber-submitted inspections are held in the same City-side Forward Lateral dashboard.
Built around the people doing the work.
Before writing a single line of code in 2019, we rode along with plumbers, sat in city offices, and listened to public works staff, council members, real estate professionals, and property owners.
Those conversations shaped the way we work today: practical consulting, clear workflows, and software that helps everyone understand their next step.
We built it. So cities don’t have to.
Let’s find your city’s starting point.
Whether you’re beginning with property owner outreach or improving an established private sewer lateral program, we’ll help you put the next steps in place.
