NONTRADITIONAL PIPING OPTION TAPPED FOR DOMESTIC WATER AT OLYMPIC VILLAGE HOUSING PROJECT

The Challenge

Extremely corrosive water in the area typically ruins copper pipe within 15 years.

The Solution

Over 8,000 linear feet of corrosion-resistant aquatherm was installed in two parcels of the project.

While the bulk of the Millennium Water South East False Creek Olympic Village housing project parcels used traditional copper piping for domestic water, some owners chose a different route. Three hundred residential units from parcels 3 and 6 were piped with aquatherm green®, which is made from polypropylene-random (PP-R) and is designed specifically for potable water applications.

As the mechanical contractor on those parcels, Jeda Mechanical’s Jim Myers suggested PP-R during the design stage. He had been introduced to aquatherm by the local EMCO office and was immediately interested in it. “It has so many good characteristics. It will last the lifetime of a building. It is much lighter than other metals and isn’t going to get stolen like copper. Its flow rates are far better, and it has a natural insulation value,” he said.

When Myers, who has been in the industry for 25 years, outlined the benefits of PP-R to the designer and owner, he also pointed out a local problem. “Around here, the corrosiveness of the water tends to eat up copper piping within fifteen years. When I talked with the owner and told him that it would last the life of the building he was sold,” Myers said.

A total of sixteen employees from Jeda Mechanical completed the half-day training and were able to begin installing pipe through the heat fusion process. Heat fusion welding is a process essential to the aquatherm system in which the pipe joints are warmed for a short period of time before being joined together for a seamless bond that is stronger than the pipe itself. Once fused, pipes and fittings also have the same physical properties to eliminating systematic weaknesses.

Myers was impressed with the savings and ease of installation. “The system as a whole provided a lot of labor and material savings. We didn’t have to have any solder, flux, acetylene, or torches. We were able to downsize the pipe since aquatherm’s flow rate is so much better than copper or ductile iron, and it’s also lighter and easier to use,” Myers said. He estimated that project-wide, they downsized by 40-50% compared to iron due to the improved flow rate of PP-R.

“Any time you can use a piping system that’s going to last a lifetime and provide the customer with a far superior product, you want to do it. That system will not need to be re-piped for seventy-five to one hundred years,” Myers said. “Those are the only parcels like that, and the others will need to be re-done in fifteen years or so.”

The project took about two years, concluding in October 2009. The units are now occupied and while the residents might not know it, they are benefiting from exceptional tap water quality due to the non-leaching, non-corrosive and antimicrobial properties of the aquatherm piping system.