UK-based water company: Keep the water running!

Speed, efficiency and high durability: With the MasterSeal 7000 CR concrete-protection and waterproofing system from Master Builders Solutions, British water supplier Water company Water has minimized the risks, and thus potential follow-up costs, involved in the repair of its sewage system.

Water is synonymous with life – or, to be more exact, the former is a vital prerequisite for the latter: The human body, for instance, is made up of 70 percent water; and plant growth would be inconceivable without it. All human endeavors – including industry and commerce – are dependent on the valuable resource in many different ways. Water should be handled with care and respect, and this includes the quick and sustainable elimination of all malfunctions in or damage to water supply and sewage systems. In other words, an effective risk management that takes into account costs and potential follow-up costs as well as possible adverse impact on people and the environment.

Sulfuric-acid corrosion

The company is a water supplier in the east of England and has some six million customers. The company operates a network of almost 113,000 kilometers of water and wastewater pipes, and the maintenance of this network is one of the company’s primary tasks. When signs of biogenic-sulfuric-acid corrosion were detected in a wastewater manhole chamber, a quick response and reliable repair were necessary to prevent possible structural damage. The challenge: such manhole chambers are extremely humid or even wet, and often they can only be accessed from heavy-traffic areas.

Highly demanding requirements

The requirements on a repair solution were clear: In order to provide long-term, efficient protection it had to be resistant to chemical impact, particularly to biogenic sulfuric acid, while also providing reliable crack-bridging properties. Additional requirements included a high tolerance to moisture, as well as quick application and fast curing to keep any adverse impact on the traffic above the manhole chamber to an absolute minimum.

A life-extending measure

Speed and long-term protection, therefore, were key priorities for the companie’s applicator and problem solver for maintenance work on their water infrastructure. Equally important, however, were a straightforward application process and good workability in the restricted environment of the manhole chamber. And this is where MasterSeal 7000 CR came into play: The novel solution for the waterproofing and protection of concrete combines unique application and performance properties and can significantly extend the service life of concrete structures.

Innovative technology customized to highly-specific requirements

The MasterSeal 7000 CR concrete-protection and waterproofing system is based on Master Builders Solutions’ innovative Xolutec technology: After on-site mixing of its two components, a cross-linked, interpenetrating network is formed that combines properties that, until now, were all but mutually exclusive – such as the resistance to even extreme chemical impact with just the right degree of elasticity to bridge cracks effectively. While this sounds somewhat complicated, application is failsafe and straightforward: the material can be roller- or spray-applied and is highly compatible with moist environments. And not least: MasterSeal 7000 CR has outstanding hardening properties – properties that also take effect at low temperatures which normally impede the hardening process of construction materials.

Durable, sustainable and cost-efficient

MasterSeal 7000 CR provides long-term protection – this has been confirmed by an independent assessment conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology, simulating the typical impact on a sewage system over a five-year period in a specifically set-up test environment. The result: The aggressive environment has no notable impact on the protective properties of MasterSeal 7000 CR. The fact that MasterSeal 7000 CR can substantially extend the life-cycle of sewage systems – thus saving resources, energy and costs otherwise incurred for maintenance or replacement – makes it a sustainable solution.

The quicker the better

Speed is always a key concern when it comes to sewage-system repair and maintenance – whether parts of the system have to be shut down, adversely impacting residents, or whether the location of access points requires streets or roads to be closed for traffic. The less time any sewer-system repair work requires, the better. Here, too, MasterSeal 7000 CR delivers with its quick, easy application and fast curing properties, keeping shutdowns and any adverse impact to a minimum.

Straightforward application process

Repairing the companie's manhole access chamber therefore was a fairly swift, straightforward matter: First, the corroded concrete was given a pressurized-water treatment. Then, the surface was restored using MasterEmaco N5200, a fast-curing, cement-based, fiber-reinforced repair mortar. Then, after only three days, application of MasterSeal 7000 CR could begin – with the primer and three layers of the protective top coat applied on three consecutive days.