December Rehab News: Inland acquires tech group, Grout Boot Camp Jan. 26 and more

Nu Flow enters exclusive distribution partnership with Flow-Liner [1]
Edina, MN, solves age-old manhole problem [2]
Aqualiner’s New Pipe Lining Product Receives NSF 61 Certification [3]

Inland Pipe Rehabilitation acquires tech group, expands presence [4]
Grout Boot Camp [5]

Inland Pipe Rehabilitation acquires tech group, expands presence
Detroit, MI-based Inland Pipe Rehabilitation (IPR), a leading provider of underground rehabilitation solutions with offices throughout the U.S., has acquired Improved Technologies Group LLC (ITG), a Knoxville, TN-headquartered sewer rehabilitation company.

The addition of ITG to the IPR family of companies will strengthen the company’s southeastern regional presence, while also supplementing IPR’s rapidly evolving roster of underground rehabilitation solutions. IPR is the country’s leading provider of pipe bursting and environmentally friendly rehabilitation services. The company also specializes in executing cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP), a trenchless rehabilitation method that enables underground construction to occur without any disruption to communities.

Grout Boot Camp
Grout Boot Camp is a three-day technical training event aimed at sewer grouting inspectors and operators of test and sealing systems. The event will be held at Aries Industries, Jan. 26-28, 2010 in Pompano Beach, FL.

Dick Schantz, Aries Industries, will be the lead trainer, with additional training by Avanti, deNeef and Logiball industry experts.

A technical overview includes:

• Understanding Sewer Lines & Infiltration
• Test and Seal System Components & Operation
• Component Maintenance & Repair
• Lateral and Main Line Packer Operation & Maintenance by Logiball
• Mixing and Optimizing Chemical Grout Performance by Avanti
• Urethane Grout Applications & Techniques
• ASTM & NASSCO Test and Seal Standards Review

Attendees will receive training documentation and product manuals; grout system and wiring drawings; specialized electrical, air testing/calibration kit for transducers, check valves and packer systems (valued over $180); personalized certificate of completion; and continental breakfast and lunches are provided.

Classes fill up fast. Make reservations by Jan. 8, 2010 by contacting Aries Industries at (800) 234-7205 or go online at www.ariesind.com [6].

Nu Flow enters exclusive distribution partnership with Flow-Liner
Nu Flow, a global leader in innovative green technologies for in-place pipe restoration, is entering into an exclusive distribution partnership with Flow-Liner, which specializes in sewer and water supply line rehabilitation. Nu Flow and their channel partners will be distributing the full range of Flow-Liner’s products.

Since 1998, Nu Flow has manufactured and installed patented, trenchless drain and potable water lining solutions and was the first company of its kind to offer complete inside-infrastructure rehabilitation from a single source. The partnership expands Nu Flow’s portfolio of trenchless technologies and enables Nu Flow to provide optimal solutions for their customers.

With the addition of the Flow-Liner products, Nu Flow and their channel partners now offer trenchless and no-dig alternatives from the water main to the tap, from the drain back to the sewer main or storm drain system, and across various other plumbing systems including HVAC and fire-suppression systems.

Nu Flow will serve as the exclusive distributor in the U.S. for the Inversion and Pipes-Down-Under solutions. The Inversion technology enables the rollout of an epoxy-saturated liner from a single entry access point – it cures-in-place inside the host pipe, forming a strong permanent structural liner. The Pipes-Down-Under solution offers an effective alternative to digging and replacing damaged pool plumbing. Nu Flow will serve as the exclusive distributor in the U.S. excluding the southeast for the Neofit solution. Neofit is a versatile service pipe relining system that is a cost effective solution for the renovation of service pipes suffering from water quality problems and leakage.

Edina, MN, solves age-old manhole problem
Like every other municipality in the U.S., the Minneapolis suburb of Edina (population: 45,500) has an ongoing problem with manholes. In a typical year, several dozen of the city’s 3,000 manholes need to be rehabilitated because their "chimneys" have deteriorated.

The chimney, which is the section of the manhole immediately under the cover frame, is a necessity. Each chimney must be custom-built to leave the cover and its frame flush with the road surface. In the 19th century, workers constructed manhole chimneys with bricks and mortar. Beginning around 1900, most chimneys were built with multi-decker sandwiches of thin concrete rings and mortar.

Roger Glanzer, Edina’s utility superintendent, says the concrete rings are not a good solution: “Over the years, we’ve had problems with the concrete rings because of the freeze-thaw cycle. They break so you get silt, rocks and water flowing in and then the roadway above starts to collapse.”

Glanzer says collapsed chimneys cause two problems. First, they allow storm water into the sanitary sewer system, which forces the city to treat water that shouldn’t be there and doesn’t need treatment. Second, each collapse results in a pothole that becomes a road hazard and requires additional repair.
Another issue is that building a concrete chimney requires a certain level of masonry skill, and not every worker possesses that skill.

Ladtech’s rings are easier and faster to install and require little skill. Furthermore, they weigh about 1/100th of the weight of concrete rings, so they’re much easier to transport and handle.

That’s why, in 1999, Edina switched to chimneys composed of stacks of high-density polyethylene rings from Ladtech. With hundreds of these rings installed, Glanzer says there have been zero failures. “They still look like the day we put them in. That’s why we exclusively spec the Ladtech rings.”

Edina is not alone; hundreds of thousands of Ladtech rings have been installed nationwide over the past 10 years with no reported failures.

Aqualiner’s New Pipe Lining Product Receives NSF 61 Certification
Aqualiner Limited announces that its new water pipe lining product called Rembrandt has received NSF/ANSI Standard 61 certification from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). This certification means the Rembrandt product meets the rigid standards required for products used in drinking water system components in the U.S. water infrastructure. This includes protecting against leaching or migrating of contaminants into the drinking water supply.

Aqualiner is authorized to use the NSF Certification Mark in conjunction with marketing Rembrandt to the water industry. The Rembrandt product is a trenchless method for structurally rehabilitating underground pipes, including water mains. Aqualiner’s water pipe lining allows for the possibility of rapid, same-day return to water service to urban and suburban neighborhoods, with less disruption and lower cost than conventional pipe replacement. +44 (0) 1509 224234, www.aqualiner.co.uk [7]