Sep. 28--Just imagine if, in the movie "The Graduate," the career advice had been "sewage" instead of "plastics."

Then you, too, might be pulling down the double-digit revenue growth that profitable Detroit-based Inland Pipe Rehabilitation is recording these days, as the rest of the economy stalls.

Nearly $13 billion is expected to be spent on U.S. sewer and water construction and repair projects this year.

But few of us like to think about the sewage running in aging pipes under our streets and walkways, and Inland Pipe has based much of its success on sheltering its clients -- and their constituents -- from such messy thoughts.

The firm specializes in fixing underground pipes and related structures for municipalities and engineering firms around the country without tearing up streets or properties.

"Most often, if we're working in your neighborhood, you'll notice us setting up over a manhole in the morning as you head to work and we're gone by the time you get home," Inland Pipe President and CEO Joseph Cutillo said. "We're always very cognizant of looking for the least invasive, most affordable solutions."

Cutillo says the company is profitable and growing rapidly by opening offices in new markets and by acquiring existing operations.

It expects revenue growth of 40% this year and said it plans to log revenue growth of more than 50% next year.

In Michigan, where it employs about one-quarter of its nationwide staff of 400, it expects to add 15 to 20 employees this year.

The company's staff has nearly doubled in a little more than a year. Crain's Detroit Business reported in July 2007 that it employed about 250 employees, including 50 in Michigan.

"We're growing pretty rapidly," Cutillo said, "and what we've been able to do is just scratching the surface."

And as cities' sewage pipes age and the population grows, Cutillo said, the demands on that infrastructure continue to grow.

"Municipalities understand this is a ticking time bomb," Cutillo said. "In the U.S. now and for the next 20 years, the country needs to spend $15 billion just to keep up" with the pipes that need to be repaired and replaced.

And, said Cutillo: "We spend nowhere near that amount."

For Inland Pipe, that means massive opportunity for business.

Certainly, it has competitors. But Inland Pipe is different from its competitors, Cutillo said, because it provides its customers a variety of methods for inspecting and fixing their sewage lines.

The company says its largest competitors offer more limited options.

So far, the sewer repair company does business in Michigan, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla., Ontario, Calif., Houston and Pasadena, Texas.

But look for that to grow. In the next six months, Cutillo said the company expects to make two or three more acquisitions.

"We will more than double in size by 2010," he said.

Contact KATIE MERX at 313-222-8762 or kmerx@freepress.com.

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