Just What Is Pipe Pigging Anyway?

When municipal wastewater force mains or other industrial piping systems suffer from reduced flow, progressive poly pigging (Pipe Pigging) may be the best choice to rectify the situation and restore maximal flow. But, just what is Poly Pigging anyway?

Any professionally designed piping system will have been engineered with certain flow rates (Gallons per minute), velocities (Feet per second) and pressure (PSI). During the life of the system, low flow velocities or high concentrations of FOG (fat, oil, grease) and sediment will lead to material build up on the inside surfaces of the pipes. This leads to reduced flow, higher energy cost and maintenance for the pumps, and possibly system failure that could include a nasty spill.

Poly pigging (Often written as "Polly Pigging") is the use of a polyurethane or other material slug, known as a pig, to clean the inside of a pipe. It is propelled through the system by the same force that carries the system's product, or pulled through the system using a cable. It can often be done with little to no interruption of service. Progressive poly pigging (polly pigging) is the use of various sizes and densities of pig, passed in sequence, through a pipe system, inspecting the pig and the product until the pipes are at their optimum clean. On each pass, the pig exits the system into a "pig catcher" and the debris is collected for disposal.

Poly Pigging can be used alone or in conjunction with other cleaning methods such as high pressure water jetting to ensure your pipe system achieves and maintains its optimal flow.

Tampa Water Jet Pipe Cleaning

I've written about Water Jet Cleaning before, but It's time to revisit the topic.

The last time I wrote about this, I started out with a mention that poly pigs are the first choice of many Piping Systems Engineers. My client, Professional Piping Services, Inc., provides that service for Tampa Florida as well.

But, there may be times that a poly pig, especially in HDPE pipes, might pose a risk of damage to the pipe. There are soft pigs that mitigate or eliminate that risk, but when there is sediment that might grind between the pig and the inside of the pipe, water jetting may be the preferred method.

High pressure water jet pipe cleaning works to clear debris from any size pipe. Jetting is effective against tree roots, cooking grease, automotive grease, lime / hard water buildup, sewage sludge and more that might be found in your Tampa Piping System.

Shutdowns cost money! Backups cause property damage! Preventative maintenance is key! When debris causes the effective inside diameter of the pipe to get smaller and smaller, reduced flow and higher energy costs are sure to follow, along with costly repairs to overworked pumps.


The pipe cleaning professionals at  Professional Piping Services, Inc will help you determine if poly pigginh, water jetting, or a regiment of both, will most efficiently get your pipes back to full capacity. They have the right equipment such as water pumps, jets, poly pigs and water tanks, as well as training and experience to properly care for your Tampa Industrial Piping.

Raw Water Pipe System Cleaning

First, what is "Raw Water"?

Raw water includes rainwater, ground water, and water from lakes and rivers. This water is called "raw" as opposed to water that has been treated to become potable or water which has been used in an industrial process, such as waste water.

Factors to consider in the Cleaning Process For Raw Water

The access port into the system is usually readily established by inserting a tee or a wye fitting, preferably a tee, into the system at convenient point at the beginning or end of the length to be cleaned.

One might be surprised to learn that many raw water systems are cleaned "backward". That is, they are cleaned from the discharge point back toward the source. This often accommodates site and system conditions and helps mitigate or minimize flow disruption in connected segments.

The volume of matter, (minerals, deposits, grit, construction debris, marine growth...) can be much greater than a reasonable person would have expected. Water present during this cleaning will be subject to high turbidity and will have solids in suspension. This makes the water unsuitable for use in the normal treatment process. This is a temporary situation and can be resolved with various customized applications. A decision must be made ahead of time regarding how to contain the solids and dispose of the water impacted by the cleaning process.

My client, Professional Piping Services, Inc., provides this service. They are a Certified Underground Utility Contractor and their License Number is CU-C055717

Potable Water System Cleaning

About The Cleaning Process For Potable Water

• Circumstances can vary, but potable water system cleaning is commonly done in 8 to 10 hr increments, disinfecting the system and restoring normal potable use at each shutdown.
• The process is prepared to allow immediate service restoration should the need arise, as might be the case for fire protection.
• Planning and notification of all consumers supplied by the system with information on how to work around or otherwise cope with the situation is an important piece of the process.
• The size or sizes of the pipes to be cleaned, as well as the age of each section the the interior conditions of the pipes can greatly influence the speed of the cleaning, with reliable mapping, it is not unusual to process a mile of pipe in one session.
• When possible, the cleaning process should start at the primary source of supply so that your potable water begins flowing through freshly cleaned pipes right away.
• Present water quality standards ensure that potable water leaving the treatment facility in such a condition to allow the newly cleaned pipes to become soiled again.
• Properly treating potable water costs you and your customers or citizens a lot of money. Delivering it through dirty pipes is shameful and disgusting!

• Because the cleaning of the system generally requires identification and opening of all of it's valves, a cleaning project often yields the added benefit of new, more accurate, system maps.

This article is written with a heavy influence from Professional Piping Services, Inc. who provides pipeline pigging with poly pigs and high power water jets. Their liscense information is:

Certified Underground Utility Contractor
License Number CU-C055717

Wastewater Force Main Cleaning

When we think of "dirty" piping product, there may be nothing more dirty than wastewater, carrying fats, oils, grease, kitchen waste and, of course, the bathroom flush.

Suppose you've just brought a pristine wastewater system online. With the first flush, load of laundry, someone's dishes... debris and residue settles or adheres out of the water and onto your formerly clean pipes, beginning the process of clogging them up, reducing flow and costing you more money in power and maintenance.

If any of these conditions exist in your piping system, it may be time to have them cleaned and restored to max flow capacity:

• Wet well evacuation takes longer and longer
• Pressure increases at the discharge head
• Your pumps have to run longer
• You plan to upgrade your pumps and make other station improvements
• Costs are increasing, especially energy use.
• Circumstances of the installation did not allow a cleaning before going onilne
• The system has been use under capacity, causing it to act as long, thin, settling basin
• Flow volume at discharge point is much lower than it used to be
• Maintenance staff has grown weary of alarm lights
• Laminar flow characteristics and Hazen-Williams "C" Factors have fallen to unreadable levels
• Odor problems continue in spite of your efforts

Remember that replacing the pipe means scuttling serviceable piping whose only offence is being dirty. Save time, money and disruption by having your system cleaned using an inline Poly Pig. There's a good chance this can be done with zero downtime, or very little.

My client, Professional Piping Services is a Certified Underground Utility Contractor

with License Number CU-C055717

Piping System Tracking and Location

A piping system, one would hope, starts with a plan. Too often, the piping system "as planned" turns out to be the piping system "as imagined" and has little to do with the reality of the system "as built".

When this happens, maintenance can become a difficult game of guesswork.

Save yourself hours or days of labor and expensive unnecessary excavation by using a great tool known as Sherlock  Pig.

Those in the professional piping industry are probably familiar with the Poly Pig, as it's commonly used to clean pipes (Process Pigging), restoring full product flow.

This same concept with the addition of a tracker can be used to fully map your piping system including "lost" valves, mystery connections, possible inline blockages, size disparities and leakage.

Learn more about Sherlock and its sidekicks, (yes, there is a Watson and a Little Piggy model as well) on my client's site: Professional Piping Services

Reuse/Reclaim Water Pipes

Reclaimed Water Piping

In the interest of conservation, either self selected or government imposed, reuse and reclaim watering systems have become common.

These systems, like others, have a tendency to get dirty over time. Cleaning these pipes can save you money and a bit of preventative cleaning might save you the hassle of replacing a bunch of pipe.

When should you have your Reuse / Reclaim system cleaned?

• It was installed under circumstances that prevented it from being cleaned prior to initial service
• The end users have clogged sprinkler heads, valves & controls
• Various biological growths are found in the system which are not removed by flushing
• Maintenance staff has become accustomed to requests to "flush the system again"! 

To have your Reuse / Reclaim system cleaned, contact Professional Piping Services