The NO-Dig Roadshow showcases the very best in trenchless technology. Attracting top quality audiences from around the region, the event displayed the latest technologies for the installation and refurbishment of underground utilities, with minimum surface disruption. Throughout the course of the day, interest grew rapidly for the Pipe Puller, with many attendees impressed at the small, compact size of the tool and the great successes it has achieved.

One main focus of the event was the importance of safety. Eliminating the risk of cable strikes, the Pipe Puller is a safe method of underground pipe removal. The ergonomic design of the tool and clever electronic controls offers optimum safety and comfort for the operator.

As a trenchless technology, the Pipe Pulling method avoids the need to dig large trenches, simply requiring to small access excavations at either end of the existing pipe. The convenience of this practice means the Pipe Puller avoids the costs associated with large excavations such as surface renewal and road opening licenses. The attendees of the event were very surprised when they found out how much they could save from using the KOBUS Pipe Puller. Savings made can be calculated here: www.kobuspipepuller.com/cost-calculator

The Roadshow was an outstanding success leading to great interest within Northern Ireland and Ireland. Branching out across Great Britain, the KOBUS Pipe Puller is fast becoming the preferred method of replacing underground service pipes.

As part of their lead replacement programme, our customer’s team was instructed to perform five service pipe replacements on the high street in Thorpe Bay. Due to the busy nature of the location, it was imperative that the works were carried out swiftly and safely. Access to the site was available only on Sunday between 9am and 4pm, so both teams were keen to complete the job in one day.

Previously this week, a new team had been trained to operate the KOBUS Pipe Puller. This newly trained team was now performing pipe replacements seamlessly and effortlessly across the South East. The team were involved in an advanced training program which ensures all operatives are equipped to deal with a diverse range of situations and fully utilise the tool to
improve productivity.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council were extremely keen for the job to be completed in the safest method available. The KOBUS Pipe Puller is known for it’s ability to perform pipe replacement safely, cheaply, quickly and with minimal disruption to road users and the public.

The team prepared the site, making small access holes at the ends of the lead pipes. Once the cable was quickly inserted, Kobite was injected and, once activated, the pipes were ready to be pulled.

All 5 long side connections were completed in one day; from excavating the small access holes to reconnecting and backfilling the surface. Both teams were pleased that the jobs were completed to the highest of quality, all whilst keeping costs low, saving time and with optimum safety for the operators.

The January issue of Water Active highlighted the considerable problem of the 60,000 annually reported underground service or cable strikes that happen in the UK every year and the time and financial penalties that result to the industry. Indeed the issue is serious enough for specific Health & Safety Executive guidance (HSG47). While training, education and best practice work in line with HSG47 will clearly play an important role in reducing the problem, one new technique for replacing lead and leaking water pipes is providing another, more fundamental solution to the problem.

Digging trenches and moling both carry considerable risk of service and cable strikes as they mechanically create new spaces for pipes, disrupting the ground and disturbing the other services. But Pipe Pulling – exactly replacing the old pipe with the new -avoids the problem because there is no trench involved and the new pipe sits exactly in the space left behind by the old.

The potential benefits of pipe pulling in reducing cable strikes have been clear for many years but all attempts to successfully achieve the technique have failed until the introduction of the Kobus Pipe Puller which went into regular use with water companies and contractors in the winter of 2010/11.

Indeed the technical and innovative achievement of the Kobus Pipe Puller has recently been awarded both the Water Dragons 2011 Innovation Award, and the NJUG 2011 Quality Award (in conjunction with Veolia Water), and won further recognition in the 2011 PIG and UKSTT Innovation awards. The NJUG Award was an acknowledgement by the utilities industry itself as to the benefits that the Pipe Puller brings in this area.

How does the Kobus Pipe Puller work?
The Kobus Pipe Puller takes a new and innovative approach to replacing service pipes of all different materials or leaking water pipes by feeding a calibrated steel cable through the pipe to be removed and filling the pipe with special formula Kobite, which packs the pipe to the cable to create a single ‘composite rope’. The cable is then attached to the new MDPE pipe to be pulled through and as the old pipe is pulled out under a carefully calculated and maintained force, the new pipe simply slides into the space left by the old pipe and replaces it.

The only digging required is a small 1foot square hole at either end, ideally around the service point or in safe areas where the likelihood of other services is reduced.

Already in use by a number of water companies and contractors for water loss reduction and lead replacement programmes as well as emergency repairs, the approach taken by the Kobus Pipe Puller avoids cable strikes by not disturbing any new ground underneath the road, leaving all services untouched. This feature is especially valuable where rapid repairs are required and underground asset data is limited or doubtful.

By removing the old pipe in the replacement process, the system also avoids the ever growing problem of new services being laid beneath our roads and obsolete services being left where they are. Clearly, as more and more services are buried it becomes harder for contractors following on to be able to detect, through surface equipment, and assess which services are live and which ones are not and for asset owners to keep their underground asset GIS mapping up to date.

Using traditional forms of water pipe replacement the old pipes are left in the ground adding to the problem. Removing them will help contractors to meet the revised water quality target for lead by the end of 2013 .

Removing the Pipe for Recycling
In addition, by removing the old lead pipe from the ground and reducing the amount of under-road clutter, the metal can be recycled saving money and reducing the carbon footprint of the contractor.

Recycling brings another revenue stream for water authorities and contractors and not only removes the risk of further ground contamination, but also means less new lead needs to be mined. It is estimated that, over the next two years, one lead replacement programme for one water authority will remove 9000 lead water pipes each around 10m in length. This alone will enable the recycling of 72 metric tonnes of lead, and lead currently stands at around £2,000.00 per tonne.

With increasing importance placed on carbon footprint, the removal and the recycling of the lead brings considerable environmental benefits to the water company. The total carbon footprint for replacing a 10m water pipe with a Kobus Pipe Puller is calculated at 20.3kg. If the 11lb, 10m pipe is recycled the total carbon saved is 153kg, or a saving of 133kg, the equivalent of running a small family car for over 620miles.

Conclusions
By taking a completely different approach to replacing water pipes the Kobus Pipe Puller has brought a whole host of additional benefits to the industry, a fact recognised by the host of awards it received in 2011. By removing and exactly replacing the old pipe, the system has done away with the problem of cable strikes, has created a large amount of lead for recycling, has reduced the carbon footprint of pipe replacement, and is not adding to the unwanted services under our roads and compounding the striking problem for other services and contractors.

While the Kobus Pipe Puller is not the only solution to the problem of cable strikes, it has, at a stroke, removed the bulk of the risk of them when removing water pipes both in emergency repairs and lead replacement programmes.

Water Active, February 2012, p31

Recent trials conducted in Sheffield for galvanised steel pipe replacement lead to increased interest from gas pipe contractors. The Yorkshire Gas Association (YGA) invited a select number of industry suppliers to their Innovation Day and we were one of the lucky few.

Present at the event were many delegates from the gas industry. The KOBUS Pipe Puller generated much interest throughout the evening. All of the attendees were impressed with the high quality machine and the successful results gained from within the water industry. Our stand attracted quite an audience, all of whom were keen to praise the tool’s compact design.

The YGA hosted an excellent show and provided a great opportunity for us to showcase our pipe replacement system. The event was an outstanding success which has led to trials of gas pipes commencing at the beginning of February. Please watch this space for further details.

The pipe that required replacing was a 3/4” cross road lead pipe, 11m in length. Due to the busy nature of the road, the works had to be carried out on a quieter Sunday morning, and even then the traffic remained constant throughout the day. Greeted on site by the water company team, work quickly commenced.

One of the great benefits of the KOBUS Pipe Puller is that the system requires just two small holes at the ends of the pipe that needs replacing. As you can see from the photo on the right, the road remained open which meant traffic remained flowing, causing no disruption to road users and the general public.

With all provisions in place, the cable was inserted into the pipe and the Kobite was injected. With the new MDPE pipe attached, the old lead pipe was carefully removed from the ground in less than 5 minutes and the new pipe simply followed in its place. Both teams were impressed with the speed and the water company team quickly reconnected the water supply, closed the holes. The total time to replace the pipe was 45 minutes.

The speed, power and efficiency of the KOBUS Pipe Puller means the system can be used in various situations such as repair and maintenance, lead replacement programmes and emergency repairs. The impressive tool is known for it’s ability to minimise disruption and ensure pipe removal and replacement is made as easy as possible.

The challenge: Removal of multiple lead water supply pipes, 6m in length
The time allowed: 3 hours
The teams: Moling vs Pipe Pulling

Performing replacements on domestic properties on a busy road, it was vital that both teams performed works safely, efficiently, and with minimal disruption to the public. Having all the preparations in place, the challenge commenced.

As the sites had been pre-prepared, with access holes made, both teams got off to a fast start. The Pipe Pulling team began by inserting the cable into the 1/2″ lead pipes using the hand winch. Soon after, the Kobite was injected. Whilst waiting for the Kobite to activate, the Pipe Puller team watched the moling team race ahead, moving onto the second pipe.

However, once the Kobite had fully hardened, the pipes were ready to be pulled. The KOBUS Pipe Puller technology is unique in that it offers the wholesale replacement of the service pipe, while extracting the existing pipe from the ground.

One of the great benefits of the Pipe Puller is it’s fast replacement rate: removing pipes at approximately 2 metres a minute. The team effortlessly removed and replaced all pipes from the ground, winding the existing lead pipes onto the spool and replacing with new MDPE pipes, all in under 3 hours.

The result: Moling – 5 pipes in 3hrs 10 mins; Pipe Pulling – 6 pipes in 2hrs 58mins.

Both teams were impressed with the results. Daniel Opperman, Senior Technician at KOBUS Services and part of the Pipe Pulling team was incredibly pleased with the results stating, ‘whilst both methods offer fast replacements of service pipes, the Pipe Puller has shown it is able to remove and replace pipes quickly and effortlessly and with minimal risk to other services’.

The KOBUS Pipe Puller offers a simple, safe and efficient solution for replacing service pipes. With the ability to remove pipes from the ground and smoothly replace with new ones, the technology is fast becoming one of the preferred methods of pipe replacements.

The Pipe Puller also featured as an award category finalist in three other entries in the awards, two of which were in the NJUG Avoiding Damage Award category.

“Following swiftly on the heels of the Water Dragons Innovation Award, this is another recognition from the industry that the Pipe Puller – a totally new approach to replacing water pipes – is creating a real stir in the industry,” said Kobus Cillers. “The NJUG awards are for the work being undertaken by water companies and contractors, so it was great that both Veolia and May Gurney chose their work with the Pipe Puller as important enough to put in an entry, and for both to be selected as finalists in two categories.”

“With cost and time benefits to water companies, contractors and their customers and minimising disruption to the general public, the KOBUS Pipe Puller really brings something new to water pipe replacement and removal,” said Howard Lewis, Network Operations Manager at Veolia Water Central who submitted the entry. “We see it a key item in our armoury.”

The Pipe Puller takes an innovative approach to replacing service pipes of all different materials or leaking water pipes by feeding a calibrated steel cable through the pipe to be removed and filling the pipe with special formula Kobite, which packs the pipe to the cable to create a single composite rope. The cable is then attached to the new MDPE pipe to be pulled through and as the old pipe is pulled out, the new pipe safely replaces it.

Already in use by some water companies and contracors both for lead replacement programmes and emergency repairs, the approach taken by the Pipe Puller is causing a real stir within the industry as it offers a way to remove pipes that is safer, cheaper, greener, better and faster to meet the lead contamination targets for the end of 2013.

The total carbon footprint for replacing a 10m water pipe with a Pipe Puller is calculated as 20.3kg. If you recycle the 11lb, 10m lead pipe, the total carbon saves is 153kg, or a saving of 133kg, the equivalent of running a small family car for 1,024km.

To read the full article, please click here: Wet News Nov 2011 Piping up for the Environment p10

(R Whymark, Wet News, Nov 2011 Edition, p10)

The KOBUS Pipe Puller, invented by Birmingham plumber Kobus Cilliers, enables utility contractors and water to replace old water supply pipes more cheaply. It works by feeding a calibrated steel cable through the pipe to be removed; the pipe is then filled with Kobite, a proprietary bonding solution which forms a single composite rope with the lead pipe. The cable is then attached to the new MDPE pipe and as the old pipe is pulled out, the new pipe replaces it.

Pipes of up to 250mm thickness can be replaced with only a small excavation at either end. Risk to damaging other underground services is also reduced because the new pipe exactly replaces the position of the old one.

With water companies undergoing major replacement programmes for the removal of lead water pipes in order to meet the new water quality legislation of 10pg/litre, which comes into effect in 2013, U Mole anticipates demand to be high for cost-effective pipe replacement solutions.

U Mole says that the KOBUS Pipe Puller allows installation and repairs to be carried out in 25% of the time that traditional methods take.

U Mole managing director Russell Fairhurst said: “We are continually looking at how we can offer our customers the best equipment available in the market today, which is why we have introduced the KOBUS system. Extensive trials have clearly demonstrated the cost savings the KOBUS system can offer, plus it’s environmentally friendly, easy and safe to operate.”

The Construction Index, 12th December 2011

http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/plant-news/u-mole-adds-kobus-pipe-puller

When performing advanced training for one of our customers’ teams in London, we came across several sites where there was a requirement for replacing 3/8” lead pipes. Following feedback from the customer’s team, it was clear that although the occurrence of the pipes was infrequent, it was important for them to continue using the Pipe Puller for their service replacements.

Our team stepped up to the challenge and spent great efforts creating a customised pack for 3/8” pipe replacement. After extensive lab testing, our team took the new cables to the customer’s site to perform works.

Across three days, several pipes were removed including 1/2” and 3/8” lead pipes. The cross road 3/8” lead pipe was 9m in length in a busy residential area in Ruislip, London. The new smaller diameter pulling cable entered comfortably and smoothly into the pipe and the Kobite was injected, all in under 8 minutes. With the new pipe attached, the old pipe was ready to be replaced. Having never previously replaced a 3/8” pipe, the whole team waited in anticipation to see the results.

The pipe instantly began to move under the ground and coil around the spool, whilst the new pipe simply followed in it’s place. Both teams were incredibly pleased with the result. A 3/8” lead pipe had been pulled out of the ground and replaced in one single action, with the water supply reconnected and surfaces reinstated, all in under 45 minutes: the first ever pulled 3/8” pipe.

The result of the training was an astounding success with both teams very happy with the new packs. Our commitment to training and resolving any challenges our customer’s face means that works can continue running smoothly and efficiently with the KOBUS Pipe Puller.