US pipeline rehabilitation firm Quest Inspar has announced it has completed the world’s first in-place robotic lining of a large-diameter drinking water pipeline with structural polyurea; creating new options for utilities to repair in-place aging pipe systems.
The company robotically applied its PipeArmor life extension liner to a 2,156 ft section of the US Tacoma Water Company’s 58-inch transmission line located in the Puyallup community, eliminating a need to dig up and replace the deteriorated section of pipeline installed in 1939. The PipeArmor formulation used is ANSI/NSF 61 certified for drinking water and was applied in a single robotic pass at approximately .375 inch in thickness exceeding AWWA M28 specifications. The installed PipeArmor will deliver decades of new life to the aged pipeline at significant savings to the city and customer rate payers. The minimal excavation also resulted in little traffic disruption to local residents and commuters traversing the busy intersection.
“We conducted an extensive cost and engineering study before selecting the Quest Inspar solution. Like all communities, Tacoma has to address an aging water supply infrastructure. We are pleased with this pilot lining process and anticipate great results long term,” stated Michel Peloquin, professional engineer for water supply, who has headed the project for Tacoma Water Company.
“Polyurea has been around for decades. Many cities use it as a surface sprayed material to protect the walls of water tanks, but being able to apply the PipeArmor structural material which sets instantly when applied into the confined space of a pipe, has taken some very special technology that Quest Inspar developed – and now proven that it works for large water lines,” says Peloquin.
“We have been utilising this technology for nearly 12 years to rehabilitate much more complex industrial and chemical plant pipelines. It was time to bring it to benefit the critical challenges municipal water departments and our communities face with the need to fix aging pipe systems with limited financial resources.”
For waterworks utilities, there have been no minimal impact and economically viable options to rehabilitate water pipelines above 42 inches before Quest Inspar’s solution was brought to market. According to a 2010 study of America’s water supply system by the EPA, every day over six billion gallons of drinking water are lost in the US due to leaks and breaks present in aged water pipelines.
