Conrady Consultant Services  is a nationwide professional  water storage tank and pipeline inspection company specializing in ROV inspection, ROV water tank inspection, ROV pipeline inspection, other ROV tank inspection, underwater tank inspection, and drained tank inspection.  We do both drained inspection and underwater inspection of all types and sizes of storage tanks except for petroleum and chemical products.  We inspect inground, groundlevel, and elevated tanks constructed out of poured in place reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, welded steel, riveted steel, bolted steel, glass lined bolted steel, fiberglass, and hydropneumatic tanks.

Our Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Water Tank Inspections:

Our ROV is the most technically advanced ROV available for tank inspections and, unlike many of our competitors, is dedicated for potable water use only.

Our ROV  weighs less than 10 pounds, which is easy to lift to the tank roof.	The front  of our ROV showing light and camera domes and manipulator arm.	Our ROV control setup is very portable since we inspect tanks on top of hills and far back inside facilities where a vehicle can not reach.

Although we inspect many drained tanks each year, the vast majority of our clients prefer to have us inspect their water storage tanks with water in them with the use of our ROV since they do not have the inconvenience and expense of taking the tank out of service for several days for draining, inspection, filling, and then waiting several days for negative bacteriological results to place it back into service.  ROV inspection offers many advantages over an underwater diver inspection and we believe we achieve a better and more thorough inspection with this method.

For an ROV inspection, there is absolutely no chance of water contamination as there is with a diver in your tank.  Unlike a diver, the ROV can float a few inches above the bottom without disturbing the silt and causing turbidity or dirty water problems or complaints.  Since only a disinfected plastic inanimate object enters the tank (similar to a plastic bucket which you use to chlorinate or take samples), almost all health and other regulatory agencies do not require you to valve off the tank or take bacteriological samples.  The ROV is transported to the top of the storage facility inside a duffel bag and is already connected to the tether/umbilical.  After both of the person’s hands are sprayed with a 400 ppm chlorine solution consisting of a mixture of ½ ounce of bleach with 1 quart of water, the ROV is removed from the duffel bag and the entire ROV exterior and the section of the tether/umbilical which will be inserted into the storage facility is sprayed with the chlorine solution while turning it to insure all surfaces are disinfected.  The person’s hands are periodically resprayed with the disinfectant solution and the ROV is lowered into the storage facility by using the tether/umbilical with the tether/umbilical being additionally disinfected by the person by sliding the tether/umbilical through the hand which is resprayed with the disinfectant solution every few seconds until the desired length of disinfected tether/umbilical is inserted into the tank.  Since we started to do underwater inspections of tanks in 1982, we have inspected more than 3,000 tanks throughout the US , Canada , and Mexico and never once had a water quality contamination issue with any of those inspections.

  If you use a commercial diver for your inspection, since this diver can become incapacitated or injured, you are required by OSHA to notify your local fire department or rescue squad so that they are on standby the entire time they are inspecting your tank.  Unlike a diver which can be hurt or killed during an underwater inspection, the worst case scenario for an ROV inspection is that an expensive piece of equipment is lost or damaged.  An incapacitated ROV will float to the surface.  Since the tether/umbilical wire is attached at 2 separate locations on the ROV, it can not become unattached from the ROV and the ROV would be retrieved from the storage facility by the tether/umbilical if it becomes nonresponsive or tangled around a pipe or column.  

Our ROV inspecting a concrete reservoir with a bottom liner and concrete roof.	This is the inlet pipe at the bottom of an elevated tank riser pipe.  Please note the water depth of 159' which is too deep for a diver but is no problem for our ROV	Note the clarity of our ROV video feed and digitized photos.

For a diver inspection, if the depth of water in the storage facility is such that the decompression limits would be reached or exceeded, or if the depth of water in the storage facility exceeds 100 feet, the OSHA 1910 Commercial Diving Regulations requires that a decompression chamber shall be ready for use at your tank.  The ROV has no depth restrictions or decompression restrictions. OSHA 1910 Commercial Diving Regulations require that a diver can not go down into your riser pipe on elevated tanks without a second diver in the water at the junction of the bottom bowl with the riser pipe.  The ROV does not have this restriction.  The OSHA 1910 Commercial Diving Regulations require that a 3 person team be brought to your tank for a diver inspection.  The ROV inspection can be done with 1 person.

OSHA Confined Space AND Lockout/Tagout Regulations are required to be followed for a diver inspection which means that your tank must be valved off and not provide water pressure and fire flow to your system or facility.  The ROV does not have this restriction.  Since the ROV does not have the physical or psychological limitations of a diver, the inspection will not be postponed because of illness and can stay in the tank as long as necessary to complete the inspection.  

Our ROV easily retrieved this bracket from a tank.	Our ROV has a wire brush to remove corrosion nodules to determine the depth into metal.	Our ROV easily measures the silt depth.  Note the data screen from the ROV.

It should be noted that, since virtually all of the commercial diving companies that inspect tanks also do repairs, it is definitely in their best financial interest to exaggerate deficiencies so that you hire them for additional work, whether or not this work is really necessary.  Since the ROV does not do repairs, this is not a problem or concern with a ROV inspection team.   Although commercial diving companies heavily advertise that their divers can remove the bottom sediments (for a hefty fee, of course), there is no reason to remove these sediments unless turbidity or bacteriological problems occur.  It should be noted that, if these sediments contain lead paint remains or other contaminants, hazardous waste handling, transportation, and disposal are required to avoid fines and penalties.  Since the ROV does not remove sediments, this is not a problem or concern with a ROV inspection team.

Our ROV is absolutely perfect for floating cover and lined reservoirs which is hazardous for divers.	Our ROV uses food coloring to detect leaks in concrete and bolted steel tanks.	Our ROV easily moves the silt  aside to thoroughly inspect tank bottoms.