TPT January 2010

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Industry News
8 January 2010 ›
A NEW pipe manufactured by GPS PE
Pipe Systems is being used by Thames
Water under its ongoing Victorian Mains
Replacement Programme. Installed in the
Crouch Hill district metering area, North
London, Excel 3C is a response to calls for
clean, capped pipe coils for drinking water.
It eliminates a major preparatory step for
water companies and contractors installing
new or replacement pipes.
Excel 3C is a range of PE pipe coils
that are DWI-approved for installation
without pre-chlorination. The new pipe
coils are claimed to save up to four days in
installation time and reduce the quantity of
hypochlorite solution required.
As demonstrated in Falmer Road,
London N15, where old cast iron pipes
were upgraded to 180mm PE, the new
pipe can be slip-lined into existing ferrous
pipes, in the same way as standard PE
pipes from GPS PE Pipe Systems. A
key advantage is that water engineers
can install it straight from stock, without
lengthy pre-treatment. By eliminating pre-
chlorination of pipe coils, Excel 3C (clean,
capped, coiled) can cut costs and increase
productivity.It is delivered to site with a
factory-clean bore, which is doubly secured
against contamination by end plugs and/or
protective caps. The plugs and caps are
fitted during online manufacture.
Excel 3C is available in 75m and 100m
coils, manufactured in PE100 (Excel), and
is available in SDRs 11 and 17. Standard
sizes are 90mm, 125mm and 180mm
with other sizes available to specific order
requirements.
The product has been developed in
conjunction with Thames Water and the
DWI. GPS PE Pipe Systems factory-seals
the new pipes so effectively that a six-
month ‘shelf life’ has been determined for
the product, each coil being marked with
the manufactured and use-by date.
The standard full chlorination process
can be time consuming, cumbersome
and costly, requiring large quantities
of hypochlorite solution, to allow the
complete filling of pipe coils up to 4m in
diameter, prior to use. Spent hypochlorite
solution then has to be disposed of in an
environmentally sensitive way. The whole
process can take between three and four
days for each pipe coil, with the pipe
coils having to be installed within seven
to fourteen days, following successful
30-minute sterility tests.
GPS PE Pipe Systems – UK
Fax: +44 1480 458829
Website:
Thames uses ‘ready-to-go’ pipes for pre-treatment
The Excel 3 in action