Cast Iron Soil Pipe Leaking Wastewater in Roof Space Above Hospital Ward Repair
A hospital maintenance team repair a two-metre long horizontal crack in a 150mm cast iron soil pipe leaking wastewater in a confined roof space above a ward within 30 minutes of the problem being identified thanks to a SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit being kept on-site.
Case Study Overview
Site Hospital
Location United Kingdom
Pipe Type 150mm cast iron soil pipe
Repair Type Leak repair
Products CrackSeal Sealant, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Pipe Defect
The cast iron soil pipe was located above a ward in a confined roof space. It was surrounded by other pipework, ducting and electrical cables.
Water starting to drip from the ceiling into the ward alerted hospital staff to a problem. The maintenance team accessed the loft space and discovered a significant horizontal crack around two-meters long through which wastewater was leaking.
SylWrap Solution
A SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit was kept on-site for precisely this type of emergency. The Kit contains everything needed to permanently seal multiple drain, waste and soil pipes across the hospital.
The maintenance team retrieved the Kit and started the repair with CrackSeal Cast Iron Pipe Sealant. CrackSeal is a high-performance moisture curing sealant specifically formulated for sealing cracks and longitudinal splits.
It was extruded directly into the crack using a standard sealant gun. CrackSeal hardened almost instantly, despite the wet surface and wastewater continuing to leak through. It formed a skin within 10 minutes.
After CrackSeal had skinned, the soil pipe was reinforced with SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage. Two SYL633HD SylWrap Bandages were wrapped around an area of the pipe just over two metres; covering the crack and giving the repair additional coverage either side.
The water-activated resin in the bandage began to set within minutes, curing to form an impact resistant sleeve over the entire pipe.
Outcome
From discovering the leak to completion of the repair, the entire application was completed in under 30 minutes.
Had a SylWrap Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit not been available to the hospital, the cast iron soil pipe would have continued to leak water until a repair solution was found.
This process could have taken days, leading to water damage and severe disruption to patients and staff if the ward below the leak had to be closed as a result.
Follow Up
The repair was made at a time when leaking pipes in hospitals were a hot topic.
Freedom of information requests submitted to NHS trusts as part of a national newspaper investigation revealed 456 sewage leaks into wards, maternity units and A&E departments at hospitals in England over a 12 month period.
Only 55 trusts out of more than 100 responded to the requests, meaning the true scale of the problem was certain to be much worse. Hospitals were therefore under scrutiny for how they responded to and managed leaks.
The presence of a Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit enabled the hospital in question to avoid the sort of prolonged and damaging leaks which had made headlines elsewhere.
This Case Study has since led other hospitals to keep Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kits on-site, enabling their maintenance teams to also respond to leaks and bursts as soon as they are identified.
Products Used
CrackSeal Sealant
Specialist sealant which hardens instantly inside cracks and splits in cast iron pipes
SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap reinforces repairs by forming a rock hard protective shell
Drain & Waste Pipe Repair Kit
Specialist kit repairs multiple cracks and splits in cast iron drain, waste and soil pipes
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