Water Leaks - Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario

More documents

Recommendations

Info

than a few feet from faucets, tubs and showers, so hot water begins to flow quickly whenever taps are turned on. As useful as this design is, internal erosion of copper pipes is a side effect. The cold water side of the system doesn’t circulate continuously, so there’s no pinhole erosion problem. ■ Stop-Gap Repairs Pinhole leaks always occur, occasionally at first, and that’s why the most popular initial strategy is to patch them as they happen. Screw clamps holding self-fusing silicone tape in place around the outside surface of the pipe is the usual repair method, but there are three problems with this approach: unnecessary risk, additional pipe damage and technical futility. If a building has experienced a few pinhole leaks, you can be sure that others are coming, with the rate of new leaks certain to rise over time. That’s the nature of internal hot water pipe erosion. It occurs throughout the entire system Pipe lining costs a good 20% less than repiping ... while typically delivering a longer working life. with the deepest areas of erosion surfacing where internal turbulence and water flow is greatest. Managing a building with pinhole leaks is like walking through a minefield. You never know if the next step will be harmless or devastating. That’s because pinholes can happen in places where leaked water causes little trouble, or where one single leak translates into many thousands of dollars of property damage. Pinhole leaks always indicate the progressive overall weakening of a highrise water system, and pressure CM CONDOMINIUM MANAGER MAGAZINE, SUMMER 2011 ■ 19 ■
from screw clamps used for repairing leaks from the outside often makes matters worse. The stress placed on neighbouring areas of metal encourages leaks where pipes were previously watertight. That’s why the seemingly frugal strategy of patchwork repairs quickly becomes an expensive exercise in futility. Not only do the repair bills add up, but constant water damage angers residents and causes anxiety about mould. ■ Traditional Pipe Replacement Cut out the bad pipe and put in the new. This is the pipe replacement strategy in a nutshell and it’s an obvious solution to the problem of pinhole water leaks. The main challenge is gaining access to the pipes. Cutting open walls (sometimes involving the interior of condo units), removing old pipes and replacing them, then re-establishing finished wall surfaces works, but you need to prepare your residents for disruption and mess. There are three main things to understand about the pipe replacement option. First, replacing old pipes with copper is not necessarily going to prevent leaks long term, especially if a building has begun to spring leaks at an early age. Whatever water flow conditions led to erosion in the first place won’t change with the mere replacement of pipes. These conditions need to be addressed separately, though that’s not always easy. To gain the most from a copper pipe replacement job, the new pipe needs to be the thicker-walled Type L version, not the more economical and common Type M copper. Also, consider installing automatic flow control valves that adjust hot water recirculation flow rates to minimize the effects of erosion. ■ Repair from the Inside Out Epoxy pipe lining is a technique for applying a waterproof coating to the inside surfaces of existing and leak-prone pipes as they sit in place. This is a mature process that’s offered by different application companies. Developed in Japan and Europe, the process is newer to North America but has gained significant traction in recent years. Rikos is the industry-leader with 20 years of specialization in highrise recirculation system pipe lining and delivering a complete solution to pinhole leaks. One of the reasons pipe lining works so well is because of the way pipes erode under the influence of turbulent water. Pipe erosion does not happen consistently across internal pipe surfaces. Various patterns of water flow turbulence cause irregular erosion, and this is an important fact. Just because highrise pipes leak, does not necessarily mean that the entire pipe wall is uniformly paper thin and ready to collapse. The reality is a pockmarked internal surface with many areas of substantial metal thickness, punctuated by small zones of weakness. These are where leaks happen and they’re ideally suited to filling and sealing. Epoxy-lined ■ 20 ■ CM CONDOMINIUM MANAGER MAGAZINE, SUMMER 2011
Page 1: EMERGING TRENDS & New Technologies
Page 5: MID CONSTRUCTION LIMITED APPLICATOR

Water Leaks - Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?