Ice Pigging kicks off in Moss Vale

16 January, 2015Posted in: Roads and Assets
 

Residents of Moss Vale can expect even cleaner water as Council brings its clever pipe cleaning program to the township over summer.

Called ‘Ice Pigging’, the procedure is part of Council’s ongoing program designed to maintain and improve the Shire’s underground network of water pipes.

The procedure involves pumping an ice-slurry, or ‘ice pig’, through water pipes to remove any built up debris which inevitably builds up in all water main systems.

“Ice-pigging is an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to clean our underground water pipes,” said Council’s Water Coordinator Alan Butler.

Although pumpable like a liquid, ice-pigging takes on the properties of a solid when a ‘pig’ of ice slurry is formed within the pipe.

“Because it’s semi-solid slurry, it’s much more effective at scouring and cleaning the walls of pipes of varying diameters,” he said.  “Importantly, it uses approximately half the volume of water of traditional pipe cleaning methods.”

Whilst the technology has been used for some time overseas, Wingecarribee Shire Council is one of the first Local Government regions in the State to use the technology.

“Over time minute particles of dirt, iron and manganese can accumulate in all water main systems,” Mr Butler said.  “Using this technology is another way in which Council is proactively keeping the water supply from our taps clean, healthy and clear.”

The program of using the technology in Moss Vale follows a six week trial in Bundanoon and Exeter in 2013.

“The results from this trial were very impressive,” Mr Butler said.  “And it was based on these results we decided to roll out the program throughout Moss Vale this year.”

The Ice Pigging water main cleaning program will begin in Moss Vale in January and run for approximately three months until March 2015.  During this time Council maintenance staff will progressively roll out the program across all residential streets in the town.

Residents whose streets will be cleaned as part of the schedule will receive prior notification.

“When we conduct the cleaning there will be a temporary outage to the water supply,” Mr Butler said.

“However a benefit of Ice Pigging is that apart from the water being safe to drink immediately following the process, only small sections are cleaned at a time which means that typically any disruption is limited to less than an hour.”

For further information or to obtain the full street schedule and interactive map, visit www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/water-and-sewer-works-and-outages or contact Council’s Water Coordinator on phone 4868 0888.