811 Marking lines

Welcome back to Happi Plumbing Channel.

We’d like to share another interesting plumbing job with everyone. We will see why we need to call 811 and how 811 marks underground utility lines.

For one job, we needed to reroute an underground water line for a commercial customer. We used a camera and a transmitter to locate the underground pipe.

First, we shut off the water valve at the meter and drained the water line.

Since we had repaired this pipe before, we opened the ground where the pipe was located and used the camera and locator to trace the underground water line.

After locating the pipe, we checked the depth and found that we needed to dig about 4 feet deep. Since we decided to use an excavator, our office staff called 811 and requested an emergency utility marking.

Our office staff was really efficient — in less than half an hour, the 811 utility marking truck arrived on site. They first marked the gas line.

At that moment, it started to drizzle, and another utility truck arrived. The technician connected one end of the transmitter to the metal grounding point of the electrical box and inserted the other end into the ground. Then he used a locator to mark the underground electrical lines.

He also continued marking the underground internet lines.

For the 811 markings:

• Red indicates electrical lines
• Yellow indicates gas lines
• Orange indicates internet/communication lines

When operating the excavator, we must stay at least 2 feet away from the marked utility lines. Within the 2-foot zone, we can only dig carefully by hand. Otherwise, if we damage any underground utility lines, we will be responsible for the repair costs.

In plumbing work, safety always comes first. We must protect not only our own crew’s safety, but also the customer’s property and the city’s utility infrastructure. This is also how Happi Plumbing is professional.