Approximately 85% of a utility’s capital investment is underground. Since water and sewer infrastructure plays such a significant role in the total energy consumption of municipalities, more emphasis must be placed on energy savings when selecting pipe materials. This Iron Strong Blog will describe factors that affect energy cost at water utilities and how to save money.
Have you ever wondered what’s behind the AWWA standards? What do they mean? And why do we need them? They’re listed all the time in specifications, mysterious numbers on plans. Have you ever reviewed them to know why they are important for working with Ductile iron pipe (DI pipe)? In this Iron Strong Blog, we will briefly cover some of the applicable standards for DI pipe and how they help you complete your job safely, successfully, and on time.
Summer has come to an end. Schools are in session, fall sports are well underway, and we look forward to the coming cooler days filled with fall festivities. Unfortunately, some days are also filled with wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters in some regions of the country. Luckily, we have an extraordinary group of emergency professionals that respond to these various disasters, referred to as “first responders.” First responders have been a prominent topic in the news lately, especially with Hurricane Ian bearing down on the state of Florida and projected to turn over the eastern coast of the US as we speak.
It's hard to believe summer is ending, especially because summertime is one of my favorite seasons of the year! I love floating in the water with the sun on my face, relaxing. However, for some, this brings anxiety. The same force that allows us to float in the water affects all materials, including pipe.
This physical force is called buoyancy. Buoyancy calculations are extremely important for those building ships and boats. We don’t really think about it when dealing with buried pipe, but those same principles and forces apply. Good for boats, but bad for buried pipe.
Hello! My name is Kemery Aichele, and I am the Sales Operations & Marketing Co-Op Intern at McWane Ductile in Coshocton, Ohio, this summer. I am an upcoming senior at Bowling Green State University, working towards a major in Visual Communication Technology, a fancy way of saying photography/videography/digital media, and a minor in Marketing. In this blog, I will talk about the beginning of my internship, what I have learned, what other interns' experiences have been, and if I would recommend this internship opportunity to other students.
So, you have a waterworks project with a long run of buried Ductile iron pipe where joint restraint is required. What is a reliable, affordable, and easy-to-install solution? The Sure Stop 350® Gasket (SSG) is a good choice. Not familiar with it? This #IronStrong Blog will describe a Sure Stop Gasket, what it is intended for, and how to install it properly.
With a storied history involving faults, earthquakes and piping, the city of Hayward, California sits just across the bay from San Francisco (SF), south of Oakland. The first notable seismic event was recorded here in 1868, when an earthquake with an estimated 6.7 magnitude struck, causing significant damage and deaths. Hayward rebuilt, remaining an agricultural community in the early 20th century, then grew quickly, becoming the sixth-largest city in the SF Bay Area.
There are no shortcuts to making good Ductile iron pipe (DI pipe). Built upon fundamentals and protocols developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the American National Standards Institute came the American Water Works Association standards (AWWA), which govern and judge the consensus fitness of products as produced. These standards strictly govern the dimensions and properties of DI pipe. What separates DI pipe manufacturers is their adherence to these standards and consistent dedication to quality assurance.
There are many "moving parts," as water professionals know, in the operation of a water system. The intricacies of not only supplying customers with a safe water supply but assuring that supply is adequate, including paramount necessities such as fire protection, many times create an ever-changing balance of key parameters within the water system. When the system operator affects such changes, there should be no concern by the operator regarding the transmission and distribution system to accommodate these changes. This article will highlight two system components that can be directly affected by material selected for system underground infrastructure.
Through the years, across the country, contractors, engineers, authorities, and customers routinely ask questions that seem basic yet truly speak to the fundamental versatility of Ductile iron pipe (DI pipe). Among the most popular questions are:
In a continuous effort to make your job easier, we have developed an online submittal builder to quickly and neatly package your personalized presentation.
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Looking for answers to your DI pipe questions? Find decades of Ductile iron expertise with installation guides, videos, tip sheets, training resources, and more in our Learning Center.
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