Simple innovation makes easy work of a difficult cleaning job
No vehicles, no heavy equipment, yet the job was cleaning 10,000 feet of 27- to 30-inch sewer main.
The site was the Four Seasons Golf Course in Irving, Texas, and the job would take thousands of feet of hose using conventional methods like a combo unit.
“You’re not bringing anything on the golf course that is much larger than a golf cart,” says Rusty Nezat, owner of Nezat Training and Consulting. “You couldn’t bring any jetters – none of that equipment could be brought out. No pickup trucks – nothing like that could be brought out on the course.”
The project consisted of two separate lines, a clay tile main and an HDPE bypass, both about 5,000 feet. Mineral deposits up to 8 inches were accumulating sediment, restricting flow.
Nezat’s solution was a patented, proprietary piece of equipment called the Jigawon. It is a large-diameter cleaning device that uses existing flow in the pipe to create head pressure and migrate silt and debris downstream. Controlled by a trailer-mounted cable winch, in turn pulled by a small tractor, the device is essentially an inflatable canvas-type holding container with a conical extension ending in a plate on the front, where a series of jets channel about 3,000 gpm at 15 psi.
“It’s a canvas-type material that catches the water and restricts it, and it pushes against the edge of the pipe, so you get a scouring action on the pipe while it’s capturing the water,” he says. “It’s a combination of a kite, a scraper and a sewer ball, which is all old technology. I kind of combined the best of all three and made a new device. It worked really well, and that’s how it was born.” He continues stating that although the device helps catch the sewer water, the sewer line would continue to need proper maintenance. Interested in sewer repair? You can click here to Read More…
Soft and slow
“It’s very slow because the process is very slow,” Nezat says “It’s a very soft process, so to speak.”
Despite its slow speed, the process is cheap and noninvasive. Nezat’s bid beat out the competition by about $2 million, and because the system uses existing flow, it doesn’t even need a bypass. With this process, Nezat can clean up to 6,000 feet at a time, allowing him to do the 10,000 feet of this job in only two runs, all without putting a single tire mark on the fairways.
A post-cleaning inspection video and condition assessment coded with ITpipes inspection software accompanied the Jigawon process, proof of concept for the device and proof of a job well-done.
According to the director of the golf course, “the project was successful on every level.” Read the full article here.