With winter moving on and warmer weather approaching, state and local government officials anticipate the arrival of seasonal rains that can present serious challenges during the spring and early summer. In some areas, inflow & infiltration (I&I) issues following heavy rain events cause pump stations to experience a significant increase in flow, and wastewater treatment plants are pushed to their limits to keep up. Additional costs are passed along to taxpayers, and local governments with an eye on future development find that I&I seriously impacts their ability to follow through on promises of growth.
For cities trying to grow and expand their tax base, seasonal I&I issues can seriously limit their options and threaten their ability to sign future capacity letters for new commercial developments.
Repairs Delayed and Problems Compounded
Typical budget constraints force local governments to delay repairs on cracked and leaking manholes and wastewater pipelines, and this delay can compound one rainy year’s challenges and force local officials to face even more costly repairs in subsequent years.
In the past, dealing with I&I issues involved major construction projects with expensive timelines, heavy equipment, extensive excavation, traffic disruption, and the temporary interruption of services.
A New Approach to I&I in Indiana
In cities across the country, the concept of system “rehabilitation” has been shown to offer significant cost and time savings over traditional replacement of cracked and broken underground infrastructure assets. Leading the way with this improved approach is URETEK and its URETEK Deep Injection® (UDI) application.
A recent project illustrates this point clearly. For the city of Clarksville, Indiana, high-rain events brought a 500% increase in pump station flow and an overall 300% increase at the wastewater treatment plant. With future commercial development hanging in the balance, city leaders needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with their wastewater treatment system.
CCTV analysis revealed that the suspected I&I issues were, indeed, the cause of the problems. The city evaluated all the options available to them and decided to go with URETEK because it was faster, less invasive, and of course less expensive.
Seven manholes were treated with UDI, and in less than two days Clarksville was back on track with its dream of brighter days and over a million dollars a year in wastewater treatment savings. URETEK offered a better solution, and much of the success of the project has to do with the material URETEK uses for these applications.
URETEK 486 Star® Polymer
URETEK 486 Star® polymer is a two-component, high-density, expanding thermoset polyurethane system that cures fully within an hour, and completely seals cracked and leaking underground pipes and manholes.
URETEK developed its polymer to be the ideal solution for under-sealing, void filling, lifting of settled pavement, stabilization and stiffening of weak soils, and encapsulating and sealing buried infrastructure. URETEK 486 Star® is environmentally inert, non-toxic, and— importantly in cases of I&I—resists underground water erosion or weakening due to its industry-leading hydrophobic properties.
Trusted Vendor for Local Governments and Prime Contractors
For over 30 years, professionals have turned to URETEK for rapid, lasting solutions that align with tight budgets and keep our nation’s infrastructure assets on the job.
URETEK’s long history of successful UDI application has established the company as a trusted UDI contractor that can instantly mobilize to job sites across the country. When we arrive, our crews get right to work on a site-specific infrastructure repair or maintenance solution that quickly mitigates inflow & infiltration issues and extends the reliable working life of manholes, water and wastewater systems, and underground utilities. Best of all, our zero-excavation solutions mean the work is completed in days, not weeks or months. When the job involves sealing underground infrastructure and restoring critical assets to their best functional state, nobody does it better, or faster, than URETEK.
I&I Repair Wherever You Are
Across the United States, folks are occasionally reminded about the effects of too much water on critical infrastructure. Manholes in your area will eventually leak under pressure, just like they did in Clarksville. And just like it did in Indiana, UDI will quickly and affordably stop I&I from overwhelming your city’s water treatment facilities.
Contact URETEK today to learn more about our speedy I&I repair and maintenance solutions that keep budgets in line while ensuring many more years of reliable service from manholes and other underground infrastructure assets.
Also, see our case study about the work we did in Clarksville, Indiana.
