Forty-five feet below the surface, under a major U.S. interstate in America’s heartland, sat a 65-foot-high vault hidden away from the public eye containing a complex system of pipes, valves and infrastructure for drinking water. For years it worked like a well-oiled machine — until it didn’t.
Under immense pressure, one of the 36-inch L-shape joints of a water main suffered a leak. General contractors attempted quick fixes on the exterior of the pipe — first with an external clamp that broke (twice), then by trying to reweld the clamp onto the outside of the pipe. Nothing they tried kept the leak at bay for long, and repeated repairs were stressing the cast iron, concrete-lined pipe. The option of shutting the line down was too costly and affected too many customers, and because of the 90-degree angle of the elbow, lining wouldn’t have worked. The pipe needed a long-lasting solution.
That’s where Miller Pipeline’s own internal joint seal, WEKO-SEAL, came into play. Confined-space-certified WEKO-SEAL foreman Patrick Whitehead reported to the site and did his usual prejob safety checks, daily huddle toolbox talk with the on-site contractors, walked the job site, and assessed the situation. Although he would have to venture nearly 50-feet underground, he was unfazed.
“There wasn’t much surface prep because the elbow had a mastic liner,” Whitehead says. “I could immediately see where it was leaking because the old weld was rusted.”
He prepped the concrete with quick-curing hydraulic cement and applied a 14-inch WEKO-SEAL before conducting a successful air test. With the seal in place, he applied stainless steel retaining bands to complete the NSF-compliant installation.
Saving the customer’s money
Had the customer been forced to replace that segment of leaking pipe, it would have taken days. From start to finish, installing a WEKO-SEAL — guaranteed to be bottle tight — took just over four hours, creating huge cost savings for the customer. Residents weren’t without water for more than a few hours.
“A lot of companies don’t even know that going into a pipe and fixing it from the inside is a viable option. Not only is it possible, but it can save them money and time,” says Whitehead, adding that Miller Pipeline’s WEKO-SEAL technicians are all confined-space trained and ready for emergency repair jobs.
The WEKO-SEAL teams works with customers to repair any type of pipe (including compound angles) carrying a product. Miller Pipeline can custom-create a WEKO-SEAL for almost any pipe, and the seal works with a wide variety of pipe shapes.
Leaks are sealed permanently, and in nearly all cases, no further work will be needed, according to Miller Pipeline. The seals are backed with a guarantee that they’ll be installed correctly every time if they’re installed by Miller Pipeline technicians.
Miller Pipeline was founded in 1953 and has grown to provide a comprehensive range of pipeline contracting and rehabilitation services for natural gas, liquids, water and wastewater pipelines. 800-428-3742 | www.millerpipeline.com
