Ice Pigging™
& Effluent
Pumped sewer mains often become fouled causing blockages, odours and poor hydraulic performance. Decreased flow rates caused by fats, oils, grease, wipes and other materials present in pipes can result in environmental incidents and the expensive use of waste tankers.
Ice Pigging™ is a unique solution which can be applied to pumped sewers to remove fouling, sediment, grit, and other problematic deposits. The semi-solid ice slurry is pumpable like a liquid but moves through the pipe like a solid material once a ‘pig’ of ice slurry is formed. The process has the benefits of solid foam pigging, but without any of the associated risks or enabling works.
Customers have found Ice Pigging™ to be the most effective solution in situations of wet well flooding caused by poor hydraulic performance, as well as odour complaints, hydrogen sulphide build up, and poor performance caused by air within the pipe.
Cleaning the pipes and other infrastructure with Ice Pigging™ helps to improve quality and optimise network operations.
Ice Pigging™ can be used to clean pipelines ranging from 60-700mm in diameter and generally utilises existing connections, therefore requires no excavation. It is fast, effective and exceptionally low risk, using significantly less water than most comparable techniques.
The process
Preparation: Wet well levels are managed on site to prepare for planned interruption and Ice Pigging™ intervention.
An ice delivery unit pumps ice slurry into a suitable fitting at the pumping station, to form a semi-solid pig in the main.
The wet well pump is used to push the Ice Pig™through the length of pipe to be cleaned. If the wet well pump is insufficiently rated, an external pump and water supply can be used.
The Ice Pig™moves through the pipework and collects sediment and fouling as it passes.
At the outlet, the dirty ice and waste material is either collected in a waste tanker or allowed to progress to the treatment works.
The pipe is returned to fully automatic service.
Example of Ice Pigging™ in operation
“The success of this operation meant that the client was able to cancel an expensive capital project to replace the pipe, a saving of over £700,000.” Business Development Manager
The Issue: Repeated incidents of sewage flooding had been experienced in a prestigious residential area, attributed to reduced pumping capacity of the rising main caused by a build-up of sediments. The utility company had resorted to using waste tankers to manage the wet-well levels which had become inconvenient and expensive as well as a major disturbance for the public.
The Solution: The mobile Ice Pigging™ team brought the ice delivery unit to the site and ice slurry was pumped through the 1184m of 63mm MDPE rising sewer main.
The Results:
- Increased the flow rate of two pumps by over 40%
- Removed the need for waste tankers to pump away excess sewage, saving time and money
- Eliminated a significant public nuisance
- A 99.5% cost saving between Ice Pigging™ and mains replacement