Upgrade of Live Chamber – Birmingham

REQUIREMENT

We were asked to upgrade the internal PVC pipework inside the pumping station to ductile iron pipework. A bespoke manifold was required to interface the new internal pipework with the rising main. All work would need to be carried out on a live pumping chamber.

METHOD

• The chamber was accessed using a two man confined entry team to measure up the existing pipework.
• Due to a ductile iron pipework manifold being much wider than a PVC manifold a custom steel manifold was built specifically for this chamber.
• New risers, non-return valves, manifold and gate valve were installed within the chamber.

RESULT

• Ductile iron pipe has more than 13 times the impact strength, nine times the tensile strength and four times the burst strength of PVC pipe and, unlike PVC pipe, it can handle stress.
• Ball type non-return valves were installed which are less likely to become fouled with rag and operate quietly.
• The pumping station is now in excellent working order.
• Future maintenance will be easier as the pipework is flanged and bolted together.

FOCUS ON:

 

WORKING ON A LIVE CHAMBER

Working in a live chamber creates its own challenges. Planning the operation so that one pump is always online or contracting of suction tanker to remove waste, adds further complication to the confined entry.