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Winery PipesIf your vineyard's water pipe were to catastrophically fail tomorrow, how would you go about fixing the problem? A water main fault can be a very serious problem for any winery, as the very sensitive health of your grapes depends on the very careful maintenance of their growing conditions. When the pipe is in need of repair, then the control of the grapes' growing conditions is taken out of your hands, and left to the capricious whims of mother nature.

The "Old" Method

Back in the day, the way to deal with a problematic pipe was to dig up the entire length of the pipe, find the problem spot, and work at fixing it from there. This method is called "trenching," as it call s for you to dig a long trench to the depth of your pipe so that you can expose the cause of the pipe's failure.

The major problem with trenching, especially for agricultural purposes, is that it asks you to dig up the ENTIRE length of pipe in order to accurately find the source of the problem. If your pipe runs close to or under any part of your vineyard, such as the line to your water sprinkler system, then you will end up disturbing, and perhaps ruining, your crop in your attempt to save the crop from a drought. An unfortunate, and ironic, result of trenching in agricultural water system repair, to say the least.

Even if you do not have to directly uproot your own crops to dig the trench, you may accidentally unearth buried chemicals and other contaminants that can ruin a crop just as surely.

Trenchless Pipe Repair

Fortunately, pipe repair technology has taken a few leaps forward in recent decades. There are now several types of trenchless technology that you can use for the repair of your critically important water systems that will avoid many of the risks of traditional trenching methods. These trenchless technologies include:

CIPP Lining

In this method of trenchless repair, you clear out the old pipe of all obstructions, then slide an interior lining made of a special epoxy resin. The new lining effectively replaces the old pipe from the inside, creating a new pipe within the old pipe. The lining is called CIPP for Cured-In-Place-Pipe, as it is made solid while in the old pipe.

This covers any holes or gaps in the entire length of the pipe, and prevents root and soil intrusion. After a few short hours, the pipe is ready to be used again.

The beautiful thing about CIPP lining is that is a minimally invasive procedure. The only thing needed to get the lining into the pipe is a single entry point and another access point on the other end. This negates the need for long trenches, minimizing the impact on your vineyard's sensitive crop soil. If your pipe is worn in several places, is rusted through, or has a long, lateral rupture, then this repair method could be ideal for you.

Sectional Point Repair

This particular trenchless technology involves running a camera down the line to identify the source of the problem. Once the problem has been located, a small section of cure-in-place-pipe lining is sent down the line to the trouble area, just enough to cover the damaged section of pipe, whether that damage is a crack, a "belly," or even a gap between pip connections.

Once in place, the new lining is used to form a seal that is designed to last for a minimum of 50 years. This small patch can be in place and cured within hours of the start of the repair process, making it fast as well as material-efficient.

In many ways, sectional point repair is similar to the CIPP lining method listed above, but on a smaller, more precise scale. This solution is ideal if you only have a single point of damage within the pipe (which is usually the case).

Pipe Bursting

If a pipe is completely ruined, or if you are looking to install a different size of pipe while you are already replacing the old one, then pipe bursting may be the way for you to get the job done.

In this process, a special expander head is run through the old pipe, shredding the pipe as it goes through. This completely removes the old pipe from the equation.

As the expander head travels underground, a new pipe is dragged into place behind it in order to replace the ruined old pipe. Once the ends of the new pipe are in place, two small holes are dug at either end so that the pipe can be connected to your existing water system.

The holes dug in this process are still miniscule compared to the trenching method, though it is slightly more invasive than the CIPP lining methods used above.

Directional Boring

This is less of a repair option, and more of an installation option. With this particular technology, a specialized machine sends a special boring device under the ground. This bore digs a path for the installation of any number of underground utilities, including water pipes.

If you are looking to expand your water utilities without disturbing the soil around your fields too much, then the use of a directional boring machine is a must. It can dig a path underground without disrupting your topsoil, allowing you to expand your irrigation quickly and easily.

For More Help…

Whether you just need to patch a small fault in the pipe, or need to replace your whole system, there is no job too big or too small for trenchless pipe repair technology.

If you would like more information about the different kinds of trenchless technology out there, or want to leverage the benefits of no-dig pipe repair methods for your winery, contact us right away. A problem with your water supply can be fatal to your crop yield, and time wasted waiting for a traditional trench repair to finish is time that could be spent saving your crop. 

Topics: Trenchless Technology, Commercial Plumbing