SPRAY-IN -PLACE PIPE REHABILITATION METHOD Extends Life of Water Mains for City of Wyandotte, Michigan

By J. Ross Smith, Product Manager, Concrete, Plant and Pipeline Services, Veolia North America

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2021 Report Card for American Infrastructure, 2.2 million miles of underground pipes bring drinking water to millions of people across the country. However, as a community’s water infrastructure ages, the incidence of leaks and water main breaks escalates. The ASCE report notes that there is a water main break every two minutes, resulting in the loss of an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water every day. Not only does this impact the utility’s bottom line; it also results in an increase in costly repairs or replacement, as well as shutdowns that cause disruption to consumers and the local economy.

Main breaks aside, the deterioration of pipes increases water quality issues, such as pipe corrosion and tuberculation in steel, cast iron, and ductile iron pipes, and the buildup of biological material.

Most pipes are underground, and some date back to the 19th century. Even those laid in the mid-20th century are nearing the end of their useful life. Fortunately, many utilities have implemented pipeline asset management programs to proactively repair and rehabilitate their aging infrastructure.

Advanced Solutions offers an innovative Spray-in-Place Pipeline (SIPP) rehabilitation process that extends the life of existing underground pipes using an efficient, effective and longlasting alternative to the traditional dig-and-replace pipe or direct replacement solution.

SIPP and Wyandotte, Michigan

A look at the program utilized by the city of Wyandotte in southeastern Michigan provides insights into how SIPP works.

The Wyandotte Municipal Water Plant serves over 12,000 customers and can produce up to 15 million gallons of water per day. The distribution system consists of 110 miles of water mains ranging from 4 inches to 30 inches in diameter. 850 fire hydrants throughout the community provide fire protection. The water system has a 500,000-gallon elevated storage tank and 4.5 million gallons of ground-level storage for peak demand periods such as fighting fires or other emergencies. The Wyandotte Municipal Water Utility has annual revenues of over $3.5 million and sells over 1.5 billion gallons of water annually.

According to Bill Weirich, Superintendent of the Wyandotte Water Department, the utility’s traditional method of maintaining the water mains was open cutting and direct replacement, which entails trenching the entire length of pipe to be repaired or replaced and laying down new pipe in the trench. This method has several downsides including the high cost, the lengthy time