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| February Issue Post Date 2/28/05 | www.mcelroy.com | |
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Note From The Editor HDPE was not one of the pipe options on the original bid but when KLB Construction, Inc. told CAWCD they could do the job for $125,000 less if they were allowed to use HDPE - the pipeline owner became intrigued. When officials at CAWCD learned that HDPE was leak free and virtually maintenance free, they decided to use the pipe and have been impressed with the outcome. "We know that we are not going to have long term maintenance problems with the pipe," said Darin Francom, Engineering Resources Supervisor for CAP. "It's a bury it, and forget about it type of pipe." The Tonopah Desert Recharge Project (TDRP) is part of water conservation project developed by CAWCD, which owns a 336-mile canal that distributes Colorado River Water to a large part of Arizona . Water is taken from the canal through a gravity fed pipe system that includes 63 through 24-inch diameter HDPE pipe. The water is dumped into a series of shallow ponds that cover approximately 250 acres. The water is allowed to seep into the ground where it eventually reaches the natural aquifer. The aquifer will act as a storage facility for future use. High Country Fusion based in Fairfield Idaho supplied the HDPE and McElroy Fusion equipment for the project. "This is a first step for one of the largest water suppliers in the West," said High Country co-owner Steve Wilson. "Now that people are starting to understand that there can be up-front savings, along with the long term savings associated with HDPE, we're starting to see a lot more of it being used." Water is rapidly becoming the hottest commodity in the West where the longest drought in recorded history continues to cause problems for water managers. Many of the troubles are associated with shortfalls of money along with scarcity of water. If other water companies start taking a cue from organizations like (CAWCD), HDPE could become a major solution to both problems. "We really think HDPE use will grow in the water industry," says Wilson . "We sometimes wonder why people would want to build a water pipeline that doesn't achieve the level that HDPE provides."Drew L. Wilson; Editor (918) 831-9286 Productivity Tip Recognize the importance of good fusion equipment and keeping that equipment in good working condition. Well-designed and maintained equipment not only saves the contractor time on the job but also insures that the proper fusion parameters are achievable. Recognize the importance of having trained operators for the fusion equipment. Properly trained operators are more productive and pay attention to the step-by-step procedures recommended to make quality butt fusion joints. Well designed / maintained fusion equipment and trained operators make the joining of HDPE a simple and economical task. This is an estimate on the amount of HDPE that can be installed above ground in an (8) hour day using 40' straight lengths of pipe: 4" pipe -- 2,000 - 3000 feet State Of The Infrastructure Case Studies Links North American Society for Trenchless Technology American Water Works Association American Society of Civil Engineers Foundation Newsletter Links Water World - Receive news from WaterWorld, Industrial Waterworld and Water & Wastewater International. Water Tech Online North American Society of Trenchless Technology Insider and Pipeline Newsletter If you would like a link to your newsletter posted in McElroy Connections, contact Drew L. Wilson at 918-831-9286 or McElroy Connections welcomes your feedback, story ideas, tips, or anything else related to PE Pipe and Pipe fusion. Please email your comments and story ideas to: FOR NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS: To subscribe, visit http://www.mcelroy.com/fusion/forms/newsletter.htm McElroy Connections is published by McElroy Manufacturing Inc. The information contained within each issue is meant as a service to our customers, distributors, and those involved with Polyethylene Pipe applications.
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One of the largest water wholesalers in the country recently learned what Europe and a growing number of water companies in the U.S. already know; the financial bottom-line for water projects using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is the same color as the pipe - black. That's what officials at the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) discovered when they let their bid-winning contractor value engineer a 15,000-foot pipeline for a water recharge project in the Arizona desert.
