Buchanan County, VA – The responsibility of getting clean, safe drinking water to all the customers of Buchanan County Public Service Authority falls on the shoulders of Executive Director Greg McClanahan and Assistant Director Robert Sauer and their staff.
The Problem:
Buchanan County had a project which required repairs to a pumping station that boosts the pressure high enough to get water to a tank at the top of a mountain. The line pressure needed to accomplish this is 250 psi.
The pumping station serves an area that supplies water to a large school and a Virginia Department of Corrections prison, as well as hundreds of households and businesses. For this project, two 8 inch valves needed to be inserted without shutting down the waterline or pump station. A perfect application for an insertion valve.
A contractor installed a competitors valve on the 90 psi side of the pump station but when installation was attempted on the 250 psi side the contractor stepped away from the project. Robert Sauer contacted Hydra-Stop who referred him to Garrison Enterprises, a Hydra- Stop Premiere Service Provider, to install a Hydra-Stop Insta-Valve 250 on the 250 psi side.
The Solution:
After considering options, Buchanan County selected the Hydra-Stop Insta-Valve 250. Hydra-Stop engineered the Insta-Valve 250 insertion valve for exactly this type of application. The 4- to 12-inch Insta- Valve 250 insertion valve is a permanent, resilient seated wbecomeertion valve that uses an engineered reinforced composite polymer valve cartridge to stop flow in all types of pipe and can be installed under pressure, up to 250 psi.
The Insta-Valve 250 was installed in under 2 hours with Hydra-Stop’s 250 psi rated installation equipment, and the valve operated as required to get the project completed. It remains a permanent asset of the Buchanan County water system.
The Result:
Mr. Sauer said “Hydra-Stop made it possible to avoid draining a 40-year-old section of my system. An area that has seen too many of the original gate valves become worn to the point that they are unreliable. Mr. Sauer continued “Not disrupting service to the immediate area or introducing air into the system, which occurs during the typical cut and couple process of installing new valves, saved us untold hours of work and water loss from flushing. Avoiding all the extra work and inconvenience to our customers equates to money saved. If you must work under pressure, without shutdown, let Hydra-Stop help!”
Project Takeaways
- Insta-Valve 250 installation enabled control of the pumping station line, without shutting down the line or pumping station.
- Insta-Valve 250 insertion valve remains a permanent asset in the Buchanan County water system.
- Buchanan County avoided system shutdown and the costs associated with shut-down, boil orders, loss of treated water and lab testing fees for two areas of their community.
