The Motivation

It is not often that we can experience a moment which, in retrospect, turns out to be the starting point for something new.  

There was such a moment during the Picote Open House in Finland in October 2022 when we were sitting at the “Austrian table” with our distribution partner u/ground enjoying our lunch before moving on to a practical demo on high-speed pipe cleaning.

“So much trenchless hands-on know-how gathered in one place, what a great occasion to learn and exchange experiences!” -Oliver Griess

“So much trenchless hands-on know-how gathered in one place, what a great occasion to learn and exchange experiences!” said Oliver Griess, u/ground founder and co-owner, more to himself than to those around the table. “Open House– we could do something like this on our company premises. Our parking lot is big enough...”  

Inspired by the Picote Open House atmosphere, bringing people from many countries to Finland, we thought about how we could demonstrate what is already possible in pipe rehabilitation with trenchless technologies in the D-A-CH regions of Europe. Using u/ground’s facilities, infrastructure and team located in Vienna, 30min from the airport,  we could create the perfect conditions for such an event. 

We all agreed that it would be a great idea and Picote is happy to support such initiatives from our distributors. Then we moved on to a high-speed cleaning demo with Picote Millers and said no more about it.

From Porvoo to Vienna 

Sometime before Christmas, we were sitting in Oliver’s office talking about the planning for the year 2023, about upcoming shows on the D-A-CH market. We spoke of Austria’s central geographical location in Europe with its many neighbours, the importance of trenchless technology for a climate-friendly infrastructure, the impressive new tools for connecting laterals and relining, the different curing times available these days and how to make trenchless technology more visible… the conversation flowed easily!

And then it emerged again – the idea of an Open House in Vienna. We stood up and looked out of the window at the parking lot in front of the office building. What we saw was a winterly grey scenery with some vans and cars, demanding a strong imagination from the viewer to turn it into a marketplace,  busy with colleagues from R&D in discussion with house owners, suppliers talking to civil engineers, municipal representatives learning about the latest technologies … everything hands on and to be tried out.

We were determined!

Promoting a Growing Industry

We wanted to show people what trenchless technology can do for contractors, customers, and society, so we decided  do it as a group of companies with complementary trenchless products and technologies. The right partners were quickly found with the “Initiators” Aqendo, Brawo Systems, Picote Solutions, Renos and u/ground, and a kick-off meeting was arranged for January 13 2023.

On this day the Open House Vienna became the 1st Vienna Sewer Day. We fixed the date: May 25, estimated a budget, and agreed on giving on hands-on demonstrations throughout the event day. We thought it should be feasible to find 5 – 10 more companies in our partner networks interested in becoming an exhibitor. So far, our calculations have been based on 100 visitors.

Putting on a show!

We just had started spreading the word about the Vienna Sewer Day on social media and visitors began to register, when the first enquiries came in from companies who had heard about the event and wanted to participate. 

It quickly became clear that we would need more tents, more toilets, security staff, air compressors, another bar, a registration system, more food, a larger service team, audio equipment, a stronger power generator and coffee in infinite quantities and of a high quality.  

The encouraging demand also created the pressure to be attractive for visitors. At this point we were lucky to gain the commitment from several technical magazines, associations, and institutes to support us, giving an additional boost to the project. Visitor registrations kept coming in and during the next four months we were adapting time schedules, extending advertising activities, and ordering equipment.  

With 36 exhibitors and over 300 visitors we achieved the objective to raise awareness for the benefits of trenchless technology and its innovative products and processes - with practical examples from inspection and cleaning to a completely rehabilitated pipeline. 

The practical demos by Picote and the other initiators attracted many interested viewers, some of whom even tried out the tools themselves. 

We welcomed contractors, plumbers, property managers, insurance representatives, local politicians, civil engineers, traders, and students from altogether 9 European countries.  

The main success of the 1st Vienna Sewer Day 2023 has been that we have been able to bring together a competent community of providers with an interested public keen to learn what can be done with minimal disruption. Trenchless really is the future!

Everyone involved agreed that it was only logical to continue the event in 2024.  As with every first time, we had learned a lot about what to improve and what to change. One change concerns the duration of the event, and the 1st Vienna Day will definitely become the Vienna Sewer Days taking place next time from June 5 -6 2024. We hope to see you there!