THE MAGAZINE FOR THE DRAINAGE, WATER & WASTEWATER INDUSTRIES
TECHNICAL FEATURE
requirements, calculating flow capacities and determining maximum distances from appliances to the soil stack for specific pipe diameters.
However, it is essential that pipe regulation, professional installation and product technologies all work together to make these pipe systems as safe as possible. Whilst pipework in buildings is largely taken for granted by the occupiers as the work is mostly hidden from sight, in fact it is vitally important to the long-term health of the building and its occupants.
There are several factors to consider around essential pipe hygiene: preventing foul air from entering the building, minimising the risk of blockages or leaks, ensuring ventilation and accessibility for maintenance, and making sure the building’s vulnerability to flooding is not increased.
What if sewer gases escape?
What happens when things go wrong? Once blockages are created or inadequate ventilation means foul odours circulate inside a building, there is already an issue. Scientific studies have shown that, along
with toxic gases such as hydrogen sulphide, harmful bacteria – and possibly viruses – can also live in sewer gases and so cannot be good for our health. By its very design, the wastewater plumbing system is a harbinger of pathogenic micro-organisms with, under some circumstances, the potential to enable airborne transmission of viruses.
Sewer gases can escape due to inadequate venting (leading to trap depletion), incorrect bracketing (pipes can lift out of expansion joints or cracks in the fitting can occur), unprofessional workmanship (joints incorrectly made by solvent weld, fusion weld or ring seal) or the wrong type of seal being used for the application.
Manufacturers have played a key role in helping to mitigate these risks through good design and advances in sealing technologies, such as the types of rubber used and tighter fitting designs. Product design improvements have included innovations around performance including the introduction of new materials, air admittance valves to promote good venting practice and providing easy access to video training to bring information and guidance closer to hand. The use of specific parts like
boss adaptors has also built in fail-safes to designed fittings that compensate for many errors.
Has the pandemic made us look again at the vital role played by plumbers in going beyond the heating and cooling of our homes to how appliances are drained and how sewer waste is kept in check? There is an argument to be made in favour of heightened awareness of the value of the key roles plumbers play in all of these areas, and for a renewed recognition of work being carried out during health crises.
What about the future?
In the short term, as workplaces open up fully again employers are urged to check air quality in buildings as traps may have evaporated if regular priming has not taken place. Water systems and air conditioning systems should all be checked to ensure they are functioning correctly and that they are not harbouring viruses or bacteria. In the long term there will doubtless be an increased focus on joint security, trap protection, air quality monitoring and most importantly of all, professional standards, for which there has never been a better opportunity.
CIPP quality: No reason to panic
With latest reports of declining CIPP liner quality, German testing institute Siebert + Knipschild warns of excessive pessimism. Based on 6,000 samples out of three European countries in one year, the inspection engineers rather conclude: More installation companies than ever fulfilled the requirements for successful CIPP sewer renovation, rewarded by the Seal of quality. Instead of complaining about a perceived decrease in quality, Siebert’s managing director is asking everyone to instead consider the question: What makes a good CIPP product?
"Much more than just the source CIPP product, it’s the combination of multiple factors – a sensible call for bids, a made-to- measure liner and a successful installation and curing procedure – that adds up to a final judgment of any given contractor’s work", says Andreas Haacker, managing director at Siebert + Knipschild, Germany’s leading institute of testing CIPP materials. Quality of the process in particular correlates with a contractor’s experience with a system, the equipment as well as personal
FOLLOW US July 2021 | 59
Andreas Haacker, Managing Director at Siebert + Knipschild
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