Testing of Innovative Pipe Renewal Liners for Renovation of Potable Water Distribution Pipelines

Abstract

Trenchless renovation has been in operation since the 1970’s in North America and the United Kingdom. However, it has not been widely accepted due to cost effectiveness concerns. Many Canadian cities are faced with the problem of aging and deteriorating water distribution network due to one or a combination of pipe breaks, leakages, or aesthetic water quality problems, resulting from aging and internal corrosion. Various polymer-based products such as Cured-in Place Pipe (CIPP) lining have been widely employed in structural water main rehabilitation applications. On the other hand, only a few technologies deal with non-structural systems, usually meant to serve as barrier coatings thereby protecting the iron water mains. This thesis presents the results of a laboratory testing program designed to investigate the renewal of potable water mains via the use of polyurea and epoxy-polyurethane lining in two separate locations in Ontario. The effectiveness of using these polymeric linings are investigated, available and new cleaning technologies are discussed, and thereafter properties of the tested liner material are verified. There are two primary objectives for this research. They include 1) evaluation of the lining products, which are installed using new technologies, and 2) development of testing protocol to address construction Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) concerns for the new technologies. Employing a spray-on liner in trenchless technology applications provide several challenges including unknown pipe life, unknown corrosion rate in pipes, and pipe-liner material interaction (in form of bond). This research incorporated some trial sites to gather field data related to the primary objectives described above. The trial site is located at the 3M Oxford street facility, located in London, Canada. The field installation of liners into pipe sections are put into practical demonstration and samples are tested for as per quality control. Finally, it is concluded that using an effective pipe cleaning method eradicates lining faults and improves adhesion to the host pipe. Also, a strategic QA/QC test protocol is developed.