An underground heating pipe on a farm in the United Kingdom repaired using a SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit
SylWrap Pipe Repair solutions fix an underground heating pipe and insulation lagging on a farm

Farm Underground Heating Pipe and Insulation Lagging Repair

When contractors accidentally drilled through an underground heating pipe with insulation lagging on a farm, a complicated replacement which would leave the main building with no heating or hot water for a period of time looked in store until a SylWrap repair was made.

Case Study Overview

Site Farm
Location United Kingdom
Pipe Type Underground heating pipe with insulation lagging
Repair Type Live leak repair
Products Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage


Pipe Defect

Building works were taking place in a paved yard between a set of buildings when contractors came across what they thought was a disused drainage pipe.

After breaching the pipe with a hole saw, they realised it was an outer pipe and an inner pipe with a layer of insulation lagging, carrying hot water from an outbuilding to the main building on the farm.

Replacing the damaged section of pipe would have been difficult. The pipe would need to be dug out from the ground and the outer pipe and lagging removed, just to gain access to the leaking inner pipe.

This would have left the main building on the farm with no hot water or heating whilst a replacement was fitted, causing serious problems in a heavy industry like agriculture and so the contractor who breached the pipe instead sought a faster, cheaper, alternative repair method.

Pinhole leak cut into a underground heating pipe
Pinhole breach to the inner heating pipe

SylWrap Solution

The contractor used a SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit to fix the leaking underground heating pipe. Because the Universal Kit is effective on live leaks, there was no need to interrupt supplies by turning water pressure off.

Other considerations made were that repairs with the Universal Kit are temperature resistant to 200°C and the Kit has WRAS approval, meaning it is certified as safe to British standards for use on pipes carrying drinking water.

Minimal insulation lagging was removed from around the pinhole leak area to access the heating pipe. The leak was then sealed using Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape, a self-fusing silicone repair tape which stretches by 300 percent to form a solid rubber band around the pipe.

A SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was applied over the top of the Wrap & Seal. SylWrap HD is water-activated composite wrap which sets rock-hard in minutes, forming a layer of protection around the pipe and reinforcing the initial repair.

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape wrapped to a damaged heating pipe on a farm
Wrap & Seal applied to inner pipe
Insulation lagged pipe repaired using Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Wrap & Seal applied to inner pipe
SylWrap Pipe Repair Bandage applied to a heating pipe
SylWrap HD reinforced the initial repair
Completed pipe repair of an underground heating pipe at a farm in the UK
Completed repair of inner pipe

Outcome

The repair was a complete success and within one hour, hot water was again supplied to the main building of the farm with construction work recommencing – albeit a little more carefully.

A considerable amount of money had been saved by the contractor because of the ease with which the Universal Kit repaired the leak, compared to the expense that would have been incurred replacing the damaged section of pipe after it was mistakenly breached.


Follow Up

Both the contractor and the farm saw the value of SylWrap in enabling rapid live leak repairs to be made as soon as unexpected leaks and bursts occur.

Farms and the agriculture industry rely heavily on pipework for different purposes. When any of these systems break, SylWrap allows a farm to permanently fix problems without the need to hire specialist contractors or equipment.

For the contractor, incidents like accidentally drilling into pipework do happen from time-to-time. The quicker that the contractor can react to emergencies such as the one that occurred in this instance, the less damage is done.

It is for ease and speed of repair that the SylWrap Contractor Case has been developed. Each Case contains enough products to make up to six permanent live leak repairs on pipes of all types and sizes. It is easy-to-store either on-site or on the van, meaning that whenever a pipework problem arises, the user is equipped to deal with it.


Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-fusing silicone pipe repair tape, seals live leaks, temperature resistant to 200°C

SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap sets rock hard to reinforce, protect and strengthen repairs

Universal Pipe Repair Kit
Wrap & Seal and SylWrap HD can be purchased together in a Universal Pipe Repair Kit

Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Easy-to-store case with everything needed to make up to six emergency pipe repairs


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