Pipeline Smoke Testing

Why should smoke testing be done?

Smoke testing is one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to identify and locate exfiltration and infiltration problems in sewer systems.

Smoke testing involves smoke filled air to be forced through a sewer line. The pressure used causes the smoke to fill the pipeline and any connections, following the path of the leak to the surface, ultimately revealing the source of the leak. Smoke tests are highly effective no matter of soil type, depth of lines or surface types, so long as openings exist for the smoke to follow.

Smoke doesn't always begin at the spot the smoke plumes emerges.Sometimes, smoke can be seen coming out through vents, gutters, manholes or out of the ground.that may indicate a defect or possible break in the sewer pipeline itself. Since sewer gases can cause health issues, determining the origin of plumbing leaks in buildings is of particular importance to building occupants and owners.

If you know or suspect that there might be issues with the sewer pipeline connected to your property, contact the experts at Professional Piping Services at 800-780-6098 to discuss your options.

Pickled Pipes?

PICKLING (CHEMICAL DESCALING) 

Chemical descaling, also known as pickling, is one of several available pre-treatment steps for preparing pipes for additional processing like electropolishing or passivation. It can be used prior to “superior” cleaning operation of welded lines or structures.

Pickling typically is done to remove firmly attached oxide films, commonly caused by heat treating, welding, hot-forming and other high temperature operations. All these oxides, also known as ‘scale’, need to be removed. In some cases, pickling of stainless steels is performed in two steps, one for softening the scale and one for final scale removal. Over-pickling, under-pickling and pitting usually are the direct results of lack of control over process variables including acid concentrations, solution temperature and contact time making the choice to use a professional like the people at Professional Piping Services, Inc a wise decision.

Before the pickling process is performed, heavy surface soils like, heavy rust, dye, adhesive residue, grease, some scale, oil and other types of foreign materials need to removed. This is commonly done by the use of solvent or chemical cleaning, steam cleaning, water jetting and mechanical cleaning like pipe pigging.


Contact Professional Piping Services Inc. toll free at 800-780-6098 for those outside the Tampa Bay area or locally at 813-994-0032 to discuss your piping needs and to discuss a plan that’s right for your situation.

Regular Pipeline Cleaning Is Crucial

There are various reasons why regular pipeline cleaning is crucial.  Below are what’s considered the five most important:

1. Cleaning restores the hydraulic efficiencies of the pipeline thereby improving its carrying capacity
2. Keeps build-up reduced making the insertion of internal pipe diagnostic tools quick and easy prior to a condition assessment
3. Clean pipes are a necessary step prior to any pipeline rehabilitation service
4. Clearing pipe build-up greatly reduces how hard a pump must work to transport water through the pipeline: lower pump pressure equals less stress on the pump causing it to last longer and operate at a lower cost
5. Any deposits on the inside of the pipeline will affect the taste, turbidity and quality of the water

You have several options when it comes to types of pipeline cleaning, each with its own benefits,

Jetting: Jetting uses a high-pressured flow of water to scrub the inside surface of a pipe to remove scale and other debris that’s built up over time.The benefits of jetting include, less water use, particularly if using reclaimed water, easier access planning with cut-ins, ability to track progress with hose length.

Scraping: Scraping is a more mechanical process, where a device is pulled or pushed through a pipe to remove any built-up deposits down to the bare metal of the pipe.  Because of this harsh treatment, it should always be followed by a pipe lining method to help prevent increased rate of corrosion.  Some benefits of scraping are; it can provide effective, long-term cleaning especially for pipes with the hardest of pipe deposits and it doesn’t rely on pipe flow or water pressure.

Pigging: Pipeline pigging if the process that removes debris and cleans the inside of the pipeline using a device known as a “pig”. The pig is sent through the piping via normal water flow. Pigs are generally spherical or round, aiding its ability to more freely through the pipe and clean the pipe efficiently. Some benefits include; the ability to clean up to one mile in just run and less expensive equipment, both lowering the cost of cleaning.

Whatever the application, Professional Piping Services has best-in-class cleaning technology to get your pipelines clean – no matter how tough the deposits. Contact them today to talk about all your industrial pipe cleaning needs.

Hydrant Leg Pipe Pigging

Piping systems that deliver potable water can also have another critical function, that being the provision of water in both sufficient pressure and volume to meet the demands of firefighting equipment. Thus making the cleaning of hydrant leg piping at the same time as cleaning the main line advantageous to restore both to their maximum flow.

When the main line is restored and cleaned to its ultimate flow capacity, typically there is significant increase in the volume capacity of the system. However, if the pipes that connect the hydrants to the main are not cleaned at the same time, then those improvements in flow may not be reflected in the flow capacity of the hydrant. This is one reason companies like Professional Piping Services urge the cleaning of the hydrant leg piping be part of the overall cleaning plan of the system.

In cities and communities, there is one thing essential to all areas, the importance of fire safety.  Don’t wait to test the system when an emergency arises. Make the cleaning of hydrant leg piping part of your overall potable water piping cleaning plan. Contact Professional Piping Services to discuss cleaning options with you today, 

Cleaning for Industrial Reverse Osmosis Systems

Industrial Reverse Osmosis systems (RO Systems) can vary in size from just a gallon per minute up to five hundred gallons per minute! (That's 720,000 gallons every day) These system can remove over 99% of salts in solution & pretty much all colloidal and suspended material out of any feed water including municipal water supplies, brackish water, and even seawater applications. RO units supply high quality water at a low cost compared to other purification options.

Industrial Reverse Osmosis systems are frequently custom designed for the specific water treatment needs of an application. The experience and knowledge of an experienced team of system, mechanical and chemical engineers is required for this design. These systems then are constructed with high quality components to will provide long-term reliable operation.

When you put that kind of time, effort and financial resources into a reverse osmois system, you'll want to ensure the feed water comes to you through clean pipes! The delicate, sensitive nature of the reverse osmosis process requires the incoming flow to be nearly free of sand and other particulates. That's why you see all of the filters, screening and such that are a key part of the system.

When might cleaning reverse osmosis systems' supply pipes be considered?

1. Before it ever turns on! Prudent and pragmatic cleaning of the system prior to going into service ensures the best possible outcome.
2. Filters & screens are frequently clogged, showing that the supply pipes are dirty.
3. You realize that, even though the system had extended post construction flushing, the incoming water still fails to meet your standards to be properly suited for the system to perform its designated purpose.

For more information about cleaning the supply piping for your Reverse Osmosis System, or other Industrial Pipe Cleaning inquiries,  please contact Professional Piping Services, Inc. 800-780-6098 Certified Underground Utility Contractor License Number CU-C055717

What is a Force Main System?

I've mentioned in my blogs that Pipeline Pigging can be used to clean Force Main systems, but I don't remember ever explaining just what a force main is.

I referenced the EPA website to get a good explanation of this topic.

Force Main Piping systems carry pressurized wastewater away from a pump or pneumatic ejector toward its discharge point.  The pressurizing equipment is located at a lift station and provide the energy to move the wastewater through the piping system.

A  Force Main System is made up of Pipes, Valves, Pressure Surge Control Devices and Force Main Cleaning Systems.

Force Main Systems can be made from a variety of materials depending on the conditions that are expected inside and around the pipes. They are also constructed of various diameters of pipes. Wastewater quality and composition is the primary determining factor of piping material and desired flow rate is the key to deciding on diameter and wall thickness. Corrosion resistance will be among the variables considered, as will operating pressure and trench conditions.

Some facilities will choose to aerate the wastewater or add chlorine at the lift station to control odors and limit corrosion. Pressure surge control devices help prevent system damage and are especially important during system startup and shut-down. These are usually automatic cone or ball valves.

As I mentioned briefly above and have written about before, Force Main System cleaning is generally accomplished using Inline Pipe Pigging. Pig insertion facilities are usually included in the lift station and a retrieval station is located at the discharge point. Longer Force Main Systems may include multiple insertion / retrieval points throughout their course to allow easier access for cleaning.

When might a Force Main System be needed?

When the discharge point is at a higher elevation than the source of the wastewater, gravity cannot be used. One might seek alternative processing locations at lower elevation, but in locations such as beachfront Florida, there simply isn't any lower ground on which to build a facility.

Use of Force Main Systems can also significantly reduce the size and depth of the trenches, thereby decreasing the overall costs of sewer system construction. Often, gravity sewers must be installed in trenches deeper than twenty feet, pushing the cost of sewer line installation significantly higher due to the complex and costly heavy excavation equipment and
trench maintenance required. The diameter of pressurized force mains is usually one to two
sizes smaller than the diameter of gravity lines, allowing significant pipeline cost reduction. Force main installation can also be simpler because of shallower pipeline trenches and
reduced earthwork. Installation of Force Main System is not dependent on site specific topographic conditions such as available terrain slope, which typically limits gravity wastewater
movement.

Force Main System reliability and useful life are comparable to
that of gravity sewer lines. Pipeline reliability may be compromised by excessive pressure surges,  corrosion, or lack of routine maintenance. Pipeline Pigging for cleaning and inspection should play a significant role in that routine maintenance schedule.

Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor

I've mentioned in this blog that Professional Piping Services, Inc. is a Licensed Underground Utility Contractor, but I don't think I ever defined that term for those who are not familiar with it.

To be more precise, CIMBORA, ROGER MICHAEL, the owner of  Professional Piping Services, Inc. holds Florida License CU-C055717 as a Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor.

It seems mostly self explanatory, but let me dig a little deeper. I promise you, that was an accidental pun.

I'll focus on Florida, considering that's where Professional Piping Services, Inc. operates.

In order to share this information with you, I had to learn a bit more myself, so I found myself on the site of Contractor Campus where a person can enroll to learn and become a contractor.

They wrote that a Florida Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor is a contractor limiting their services to constructing, installing, and repairing piping systems. This can be on public or private property. The service can be performed by excavating the area or other means such as directional drilling, auger boring, trenchless tech and others. The systems they service can include sanitary sewers, water distribution systems, storm sewers and the continuation of utility lines from the main system all the way to a customer's meter or individual sewer access. The Contractor Campus goes into more detail than this web developer understands. (Did I tell you before? My client is the piping system professional, not me!)

If the piping system is an integral part of a fire suppression system, another license is required.

In order to obtain a Certified Underground Utility Contractor’s license, certain experience and education must be obtained. The document I referenced gave 5 possibilities:

1. Four-year degree from an accredited college, studying a construction-related field. Plus one year of proven experience in the proper category.
2. One year of foreman experience and at least 3 years accredited college-level courses.
3. One year as a worker, one year as a foreman, and two years in accredited college-level courses
4. Two years as a worker, one year as a foreman, and one year of accredited college-level courses.
5. Four years as a worker or foreman of which at least a year was as a foreman.

Mr. Cimbora has over 6 decades of piping industry experience and has written many scholarly papers on the topic and been involved in educating new generations of contractors.

If your project requires a Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor, Roger Cimbora of Professional Piping Services, Inc. is your go-to guy!





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