About the author: David Horton is water, wastewater and infrastructure sales specialist for Victaulic. Horton can be reached at [email protected] or 403.464.3641.
Couplings allowed the contractor to join the prefabricated grooved and epoxy-coated pipe, providing visual confirmation of correct installation.
Sooner or later, every domestic water pump station needs an upgrade. In 2015, it was the Capri Domestic Water Pump Station’s turn. Located in northwest Calgary in Alberta, Canada, Capri underwent a full mechanical renovation, which required the removal and replacement of all its existing pumps, valves and piping.
The Capri Domestic Water Pump Station provides approximately 14 million liters of water per day to surrounding homes and businesses in the Charleswood neighborhood. It takes lower-pressure water from the incoming 24-in. city main and increases pressure to the outgoing 24-in. distribution line that feeds the individual street mains in the neighborhood.
Standard Challenges
To meet NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for Drinking Water System Components, as well as city of Calgary water distribution standards, the new system called for use of epoxy-coated pipe. This posed a problem for traditional welded or flanged systems, as those joining methods would require additional offsite fabrication time and coordination, resulting in a longer installation period. In addition, the space within the existing station for valves and fittings was at a premium.
To overcome these issues, the contractor, Modern Niagara, turned to Victaulic. Through the use of Style 107N installation-ready couplings, the AGS Style W07 rigid coupling and Style W77 flexible coupling, Modern Niagara was able to easily join the prefabricated grooved-end epoxy-coated piping, eliminating a majority of the station welds. This improved turnaround time and provided significant labor savings during the installation period. The couplings also offered Modern Niagara a visual confirmation that they were installed correctly: metal-to-metal bolt-pad contact.
Vic-300 MasterSeal butterfly valves also were utilized, which reduced the valve face-to-face dimensions, providing convenient access points that enabled quick installation compared with traditional flange-to-flange installation. These access points will enable city staff to easily maintain the system over its lifetime. Modern Niagara used both gear-operated and actuated valves in the Capri station.
“The entire Capri Domestic Water Pump Station needed an upgrade,” said Nick Walden, manager, special projects division, for Modern Niagara. “Since we removed almost everything, it was important for us to replace and rebuild it using products and solutions that were easy to install and maintain, and more importantly, were more durable and reliable than before.”
Walden said Modern Niagara has been a supporter of Victaulic products and underscored the company’s ability to provide reliable, safe and time-saving solutions.
The project was completed in the summer of 2015 and has continued serving as the main domestic water pumping station for the Charleswood neighborhood.
Butterfly valves provided convenient access points for quick installation.