Piping Reimagined: Plumbing's New Era of Innovation

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a self-professed pipe geek dating back more than two decades. But I can tell you with 100% objectivity that we are living in an unprecedented era of piping innovation.

That’s saying something when you consider how far we’ve come already. We evolved from the ancients’ open aqueducts and drainage channels to closed pipes placed underground and behind walls to avoid contamination, evaporation, and odors. We upgraded from clay and bamboo pipe to lead to copper to galvanized steel to the plastics of the last 50 years.

While remarkable, these advancements largely involved innovations in piping materials or methods of transferring water from one place to another through more sanitary and reliable means. Today, we are tapping into the power of breakthrough technologies to prevent piping problems before they grow.

Pipes can “talk” by proactively sending messages about water usage and leaks. Safe additives can protect and extend the life of your existing pipes. We can even form pipes within pipes through innovative pipe-lining techniques. All of this enables condo owners and managers to save considerably in both money and headaches.

Here are a few of the most notable developments you should have on your radar:

SENSOR-BASED MONITORING

Leaks can wreak unseen havoc at astronomical costs. In a high-rise, a top-floor unit can leak down 10 stories undetected for days or more. No owner wants that visit from the downstairs neighbor at three in the morning, and no manager wants the repair bill to the tune of a million dollars.

What if your pipes could sound the alarm at the first sign of a problem? That’s the idea behind sensor-equipped monitoring systems.

Specialized sensors—some leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI)—for monitoring your building’s pipes function much like a car’s check engine light. They constantly feed accurate, real-time information to managers and owners, sensing irregularities in temperature, pressure, and flow rate.

These devices can alert you about a variety of problems and even act automatically to mitigate them—like shutting off water in a section of the building where a sudden leak is detected. Also, by helping you pinpoint the specific area of a problem, your plumbers can spend more of their time fixing an issue than finding and diagnosing the trouble.

Some newer buildings are being developed with sensors in place, and existing buildings can easily make use of the technology by installing sensor-equipped smart valves. It’s also extremely affordable compared to the costs of a major leak.

CUTTING-EDGE REMEDIES

We’ve had the technology for years to restore already installed pipes. New advancements in water treatments and pipelining applications are streamlining the process.

For example, cities have long added chemicals to pipes to fight corrosion, but the treatments often didn’t flow far enough to help a particular building’s pipes. We’re now seeing water treatment methods scaled down to a building’s own footprint.

These treatments use additives such as phosphates and silicates to better protect copper and steel supply piping from pinhole leaks and corrosion. The additives seal pipe walls off from oxygen, which “freezes” the corrosion process, and when matched with the latest sensor-equipped smart valves, just the right amount of additive can be introduced as needed depending on water usage and other factors.

Meanwhile, Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) lining extends the lifecycle of underground piping that is expensive if not hazardous to excavate and replace. CIPP uses a variety of lining materials, such as felt or fiberglass, that cure to a hard finish—essentially creating a pipe within a pipe.

EXCITING TIMES FOR PIPES — AND PEOPLE

Pipes that talk and chemical-based repair treatments help you and your boards create more accurate budgets for maintenance, repair, and eventual replacement, and we’re just getting started. Looking ahead, expect to see pipes pre-equipped with sensors along with smart fixtures, such as toilets and faucets, for more precise troubleshooting.

All of these innovations bring tremendous opportunities to provide cleaner, healthier water to drink, enhance water conservation efforts, potentially double the lifespan of piping systems, and dramatically reduce operational costs. When it comes to condo and apartment pipes, I can report that the future looks brighter than ever.

John Griffith

John Griffith leads business development at SageWater, North America’s leading pipe replacement contractor. SageWater is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with offices nationwide. Over the past 30 years, they’ve replaced more than 35 million feet of pipe in over 100,000 occupied residential units.