An article in ”Rakennusinsinööri ja -arkkitehti” trade journal No. 5/07

The Amount of Plumbing Renovations is Increasing

During the last ten years housing companies have concentrated on renovating facades and balconies. As to balconies, the repairing has often been necessary, but renovation needs of the facades have perhaps not always been so very acute. Whatever the truth, we can already now see that in the next twenty years the housing corporations will have to allocate their repair money to renewing of the plumbing.

Plumbing renovations are always challenging for housing corporations, both financially and mentally. Often the residents have to live almost in construction site conditions, annoyed by noise and dust. In the last two years well over ten repair systems have been introduced into the market to replace the traditional pipeline network renovations. All systems try to achieve cost savings and resident-friendly repair work that would cause as little trouble to people as possible.

According to an inquiry carried out by the trade journal “Rakennuslehti” and the association of house managers (Isännöitsijäliitto), the average price of traditional plumbing renovations was, one year ago, approximately 480 euros per floor square metre; in Helsinki the corresponding price was approximately 580 euros. The prices are, however, confused by repairs of sanitary spaces often included in the contract prices. These repairs can be very extensive indeed, and the price per square metre can be as high as almost one thousand euros. It is also justified to ask if it is right to allocate the repair costs to floor square metres. Perhaps it would be better to calculate the expenses per apartment.

Coatings as an Alternative to Traditional Renovations

Different kinds of coating and CIPP (Cured in Place Pipe) methods done inside the pipes have come up as alternatives to traditional renovations. In coating methods rust and impurities are removed from the pipes, after which the pipes are flushed and dried. Then the insides of the pipes are coated usually with epoxy or polyester coating. The succeeding of the coating is secured by taking photographs of the insides of the pipes.

In the CIPP method a glass-fibre tube is worked into the old pipe, and this then functions as a “mould” for the coating that is injected into the pipe. This method is suitable for pipes that are large in diameter, and it requires that the diameter of the old pipe can thus be made smaller. The end result is, however, very reliable, because a new plastic pipe is built inside the old one. In all above-mentioned methods the careful performance of the work is essential for a successful result. There is still only a little experience of the coating methods, although similar systems have been used in Europe already for some twenty years. It is probable that the best-functioning systems of the ones now on the market will establish their positions during the next ten years. This happened to e.g. the repair systems for facades in the 90´s. The Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT, has made a preliminary study of the systems now on the market, and this will in the future continue as a research project.

Longer Service Life for Plumbing

The service life of the plumbing can easily be lengthened also at minimal costs. An example of this is the Pipejet system of Bauer Watertechnology Oy. The device can be used in household, heating, cooling and humidifying water systems. The principle is simple. A strong magnetic field with variable frequency is generated into a coil pipe by a microprocessor, and this turns the minerals in the water into microscopically small crystals. These do not any more stick in the plumbing, heat exchangers, or water fittings.

Due to the treatment the old deposits become soft and start to dissolve already in a few weeks after taking the device into use. The deposits go off as microscopically small crystals, which do not cause any kinds of taste effects or functional trouble. In closed systems the sediment coming off of the plumbing is gathered away with a separate filter. The device efficiently prevents the forming of rust and lime deposits in household water systems, as well as rust and sediment in heating systems.

It would be advisable to use these kinds of systems also in new houses being built. This would be an efficient way to prevent problems from turning up in the future. The costs vary, according to the size of the premises, from a couple of thousand to approximately ten thousand euros.

Kuvat / Captions:

The walls of galvanized pipes are often very good, but sediment causes disturbances in the flow. After the installation of the Bauer device the flows have got better, and the quality of the water has improved.

Bauer system was installed in the administration building of the waterworks of St. Petersburg in 2006. The picture shows the vertical rising pipe before the installation of Bauer, and in February, 2007, after one year’s use.

Bauer coil pipe installed in the household water system.