Water Management
60 YEARS OF COMPRESSION FITTINGS
The original RN fitting that started the poly revolution
It’s 60 years since Philmac pioneered the first poly compression fitting. That innovative pioneering spirit continues today throughout Philmac as they continue to manufacture the only range of poly compression fittings made in Australia. Philmac, the manufacturer of the only Australian made range of poly compression fittings is celebrating another milestone in 2022 - 60 years since the first plastic compression fitting was made by Philmac. As polyethylene (PE) pipe became widely available for use in agriculture in the early 1960’s Philmac pioneered new technology. The Philmac RN fitting changed the way water was distributed on farms across Australia, suddenly joining poly pipe became faster, easier and more economical.
In 1995 when Philmac were developing the version now known as the rural fitting, the team worked closely with farmers. Valuable feedback and insights were gained and this part of the reason why this fitting has been so successful. It also paved the way in the UK and Ireland as only the insert needed to be modified to adapt it to UK imperial and Irish Gauge pipe.
This led to the next revolutionary step in joining poly pipe. In 1982 the Polygrip fitting was launched with the insert-based fitting so versatile it could connect poly pipes of different diameters.
From this one brave idea in 1962 a whole range of inventive ideas have flowed ever since. As metric pipe became more popular in the 1990’s Philmac kept pace and in 1995 the Australian Design Award winning 2G metric fitting was launched. This innovation allowed the range to expand and include sizes up to 110mm making it ideal for use in irrigation and mining applications.
Having the ability to join imperial pipe to the new metric pipe was a game changer for Philmac. This insert style fitting concept quickly evolved to become the iconic terracotta insert rural fitting that is the preferred joiner on farms across Australia.
A short time later in 1997 another Australian Design Award winning fitting was released. The UTC (Universal Transition Coupling) quickly became known as the Swiss Army knife of compression fittings. The UTC fitting can join a wide range of pipe types such as
copper, lead, galvanised iron, PE, PVC, ABS and stainless steel in various size ranges. It’s the go to fitting for plumbers and water authorities when a fast repair of old style pipe is required. Taking advantage of the expanded use of metric pipe in both agriculture and plumbing, Philmac in 2005 launched the 3G metric fitting with the innovative “Slide and Tighten” technology, making joining metric pipe simple and easy. Creating simple and reliable solutions for a wide range of applications is what drives everyone at Philmac. You will benefit from Philmac’s decades of technical development and innovation that has produced a range of products that are reliable and easy to use, TA variety of projects are in the pipeline at Philmac, and the Philmac Product Development team are working relentlessly. Our philosophy will always be the advice our founder Mac Phillipps said in the early days of Philmac “There’s always a better way”.
Today’s range of fittings and valves provides reliable easy to use solutions for a variety of applications
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