Plumbing and the paranormal will mix it up in a new reality TV show following the lives of two Roto-Rooter Inc. service reps.

"Both jobs are about providing a service and solving problems," said Jason Hawes, who is one of the plumbers.

Ghost Hunters, a 10-episode series that debuts on the Sci-Fi Channel on Oct. 6, follows the careers of Hawes, 32, and Grant Wilson, 30. The men are Roto-Rooter employees in Providence, R.I., by day - and paranormal investigators by night and on weekends.

Paul Abrams, Roto-Rooter public-relations manager, said his company realized there were some risks being associated with a show about the paranormal, but figured the free TV exposure could be worth it.

And with more TV viewers tuning out regular commercials, advertisers increasingly are looking for other avenues to get themselves before an audience.

So Cincinnati-based Roto-Rooter talked to representatives of Southwest Airlines, focal point of the A&E Network reality show Airline, and found their experience was positive.

As a result, Roto-Rooter agreed to the deal.

Hawes and Wilson, long-time friends, are co-founders of the Rhode Island-based Atlantic Paranormal Society, which has 46 branches in the United States and 14 overseas. They're no strangers to the media, having been consultants on the paranormal for other TV shows.

A New York Times article about their activities came to the attention of Craig Piligian, executive producer of American Chopper (a Discovery Channel series on motorcycles) and a co-creator of CBS' Survivor, who decided to produce a reality show about them.

When Piligian found out the two men do their paranormal work for free and had day jobs as Roto-Rooter plumbers, he decided to include that in the show.

Wilson said only a few minutes of each hourlong episode is spent on their day jobs. Most of the program focuses on their nighttime avocation - checking out strange noises, sightings and other odd happenings in places ranging from an old lighthouse to a prison.

"Somebody says they hear strange noises at night, or have an unexplained toilet flushing," says Wilson, who was recruited by Hawes two years ago to work for Roto-Rooter. "It could be just a bad flush valve."

Hawes and Wilson said they've had personal paranormal experiences they decline to discuss. They say they began their investigation business - using high-tech gear including infrared cameras and sound-monitoring equipment - to prove that most of what people think is supernatural really isn't.

"About 80 percent of the time we can disprove that what happened was paranormal, or above the normal," said Hawes. But that means the remaining 20 percent is paranormal and an opportunity for further research, he said.

Customers apparently don't find plumbers with a camera crew in tow too disconcerting.

"They're usually more concerned with how I'm going to fix their plumbing problems," said Hawes.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com