14 A WET NEWS AND WWT SUPPLEMENT
Hydra-Valve’s innovative Power Valve can be inserted into a pipe line without any interruption to the water supply – leading to massive savings on excavation costs.
Costs can reach £50,000 per excavation
How to do more with less
ydra-Valve Advanced Valve and Pipeline Solutions Group prides itself on quality of service and its ability to meet the needs of customers. And with the requirements of regulators and financial constraints become more stringent the continuous development of innovative techniques to meet these requirements is brought further into the forefront, Hydra-Valve continues to develop techniques that will bring with them huge benefits.
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Current regulation is driving utilities to seek lower carbon emissions, risk reduction often without the ability to invest in new plant, improving customer satisfaction levels by maintaining supplies, all within the challenging financial constraints set by Ofwat and the wider economy. Hydra-Valve says an example of how you can do more with less is its innovative Power Valve, a fully functional valve that can be inserted into a pipe line of up to 48” − without interruption to the water supply − to provide isolation or control point. Traditional methods for completing a similar ‘isolation’ demands at least five major excavations, with associated plant, equipment, labour, permits and permissions, access approval, not forgetting the major disruptions to the environment and traffic, over at least a four- to eight-week period. Costs can reach £50,000 per excavation.
The company, which is showcasing the Power Valve on its stand, says a major advantage of the technology is that it needs only one excavation, and can be inserted within a week, with the water always on, delivering cost savings of £150,000. These savings can be extended
significantly when compared with conventional methods of working, achieving up to 92% savings.
The group’s portfolio comprises a number of companies including Power Technology Services; Richards Valves Europe; Merlin Precision Engineering; HV – Industrial Fasteners; and Business Essentials UK. Each company assists the group with its own methods of reducing risk to network assets, personnel, customers, the environment and financially.
An example of this would be that a line- stopping operation might be requested by a customer to allow for the repair or removal of an asset. Bypassing operations may be required to maintain supply requiring a large area to become part of a site.
The surveying team would be able to survey this and propose that the asset is refurbished under pressure by Hydra-Valve without the need for a heavily intrusive operation. Equally, an under pressure refurbishment operation may be taking place and as part of the risk assessment the Hydra-Valve personnel could request the support of Power Technology to provide line stopping service to ensure the safety of the operation whilst still maintaining supply. Also, it may be that asset refurbishment may not be possible so Power Technology would be requested to insert new, fully functional valve into the system, under pressure, without affecting supply.
Hydra-Valve is also using more
environmentally friendly methods. Calculations using the Environment Agency’s own Carbon Calculator mean an average reduction of 0.3
tonnes of CO2 per single valve replacement. Even on a small DN100 (4”) the reduction is 97%, says
the company.
All its processes and technologies aim to be completed with reduced impact on the environment when compared with conventional methods: Zero excavations No traffic disruption creating unnecessary vehicle emissions Reduced or zero emissions through the reduced or eliminated requirement for motorised plant Reduced scale and cost of projects Reduced waste and no hazardous waste
As often happens in the winter months, the stress on the asset networks of water and gas companies often see pipe bursts and failures – all completely unpredictable as far as the utilities are concerned. When a burst occurs, Hydra-Valve can mobilise a fully skilled team and attend site, and within less than one hour of being on site, will have ‘sealed’ the burst, using the patented and WRAS-approved Leak Stop technology. Using the other skills in the group, the emergency action is converted into a permanent solution. Power Technology will manufacture a full pipe encapsulation and have it fitted to the pipe within 24 hours. Increasingly, the utilities are also measured on cost, environmental impact, and the inevitable loss of reputation. A swift, permanent response and solution keeps all these to a minimum, concludes Hydra-Valve.
Stand G10
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