Epoxy Pipe Coatings Test to Make Lead Lines Safer
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority and California-based Pipe Restoration Technologies LLC used compressed air to coat the inside of water lines leading to six homes in the Hill District with epoxy.
Pipe Restoration did the work at no cost to the homeowners.
Source: Pipe Restoration Technologies
PWSA officials hope testing proves the process works and it can provide a cost-effective way to resolve the city's lead-tainted water problem. While the latest test results show Pittsburgh is just below an EPA lead threshold for lead in water, city officials believe at least 20,000 homes have lead water lines that must be replaced.
Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech water quality expert who helped expose the water crisis in Flint, Mich., said epoxy-coated lines have proven effective as a cure for preventing lead from leaching into a residential water supply.
“If it's done properly, it dramatically reduces the risk to the point where the lead service line is not relevant anymore,” Edwards said. “It hasn't seen widespread acceptance here, surprisingly, because there is a fear that the coating would fail. This approach has been used in the United States and other countries, and it's got decades of proven performance.”
Pipe Restoration CEO Larry Gillanders said the epoxy would last for more than 60 years.
Read full article: Trib Live
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