Protect and maintain water distribution system piping

Protecting and maintaining water distribution system piping is vital to ensuring high quality drinking water. This piping carries drinking water from a centralized treatment plant or well supplies to users taps. Spanning nearly a million miles in the US alone, these piping systems are a primary challenge to maintain from both a public health  management and operational standpoint.

Recent reports suggest that water distribution systems, including piping, are a source of contamination that often is not fully addressed. These reports identify various strategies that can be considered to reduce the risks of water-quality deteriorating in the distribution systems. Specific attention is given to piping, backflow events in cross connections, and the risk for contamination of the distribution system during repairs and other construction activities.

Professional Piping Services is knowledgeable regarding the advances is detection, monitoring techniques that enable cities and communities to further reduce risks associated with drinking water distribution.Contact them today to discuss the upkeep and cleaning of your piping systems to ensure your consumers a safe water supply.

Is your piping system clean enough?

Pipelines thought to be “clean enough” rarely are, especially when it comes to preparing for an in-line inspection (ILI).

The delicate sensors on ILI tools require proper contact with the pipe walls to record accurate and high-quality information about corrosion, dents, metal loss, build-up amongst other anomalies. When contaminants, scale or debris get in the way, the sensors’ ability to do their job is compromised and often results in a failed ILI tool run with significant cost consequences. Additional runs, lost production, increased downtime, repair efforts or tool recovery all are considerable costs added to the ILI budget and schedule. 

To help prevent this sensor lift off and increase the odds of a successful ILI, operators should begin with a pre-cleaning protocol of the piping system, typically propgressive piping. This protocol is a method of running increasingly aggressive cleaning pigs in a set order until the operator’s cleanliness specifications are met.

Having the cleanest pipe possible is a first step to ILI success.. Determining the best pre-ILI cleaning approach isn’t a matter of guesswork or starting over with a clean slate. It’s best handled by trained and knowledgeable people like the one at Professional Piping Services Inc. Contact them today to discuss all your piping questions and needs.

Florida's Favorite Trees

Florida Elms, Live Oak and Southern Magnolia trees are just a few Florida favorites. They not only provide shade, add visual and financial value to your home, they can act as wind-breaks, preventing storm damage to your property.  They also offer food and homes for indigenous wildlife.

These trees, and others like them, do have a downside. When one of these large trees finally falls, it often presents a significant challenge to remove safely. During Florida's rainy season, even without a major storm, the over saturated ground can break loose, causing a failure even of a healthy tree.

In the event of an emergency related to your trees, Mid Florida Tree Service’s knowledgeable arborists are available to help you when you need it most. They provide emergency service for hazardous and storm-damaged trees that have failed and resulted in damage to your property.

Mid Florida Tree Service covers the greater Tampa Bay area, all of Hillsborough and Eastern Pasco counties and has the resources to send a crew and equipment to address the emergency needs of their clients as quickly as possible. They will take the time to properly assess the situation and recommend a plan to prevent further damage to your property and to avoid injury to anyone around. Once emergency services are complete, crews will then begin the process of clean up and repair.

Even if your trees do not show signs of obvious damage after a weather event or no immediate emergency exists, it is wise to have your property inspected by a certified arborist like the ones at Mid Florida Tree Service. They can help detect symptoms and conditions that could lead to possible problems later. 

No matter the situation, emergency or preventative, Mid Florida is the right company to handle the job for you. Contact their skilled and knowledgeable staff today at 813-986-2258 to talk.about your tree needs.

Commercial Pipe Water Jet Cleaning

Grease, sludge, sand and debris are the main causes of commercial drain line blockages. Companies, like Professional Piping Services, offer high-pressure water jetting service that can help you clear this sediment by:

1. Breaking up sludge and debris.
2. Pulverizing roots.
3. Penetrating and emulsifying grease.
4. Cutting out hardened scale.
5. Flushing out the system.

While cable machines are used to break through solid obstructions and to remove tree roots, they are not as productive in removing softer blockages such as scale, grease and other buildup. Cable machines will bore holes through sludge but they don’t clean and push the debris out of pipes as effectively as a water jet machine.

High-pressure water jetting is an economical, and efficient option.  It is environmentally safe way to clean drain and sewer pipes. Using flexible hoses, and state-of-the-art pumps ordinary water is thrust under different amounts of pressure into the sewer line. A special nozzle mounted on the end of a heavy-duty hose has multiple forward and reverse water jets, which direct powerful concentrated streams of water all the way to the pipe walls. Even the toughest blockages and buildup can’t stand up to water jet machine cutting, which thoroughly cleans pipes.

Contact Professional Piping Services to discuss your pipe cleaning needs and to determine if water jetting is the right choice for you.

The Personal Property Rights Protection Act - FL HB 1159

Confused about the new tree law that is making headlines in the Tampa Bay area? Here are a few points to help clear things up.

The Personal Property Rights Protection Act, also known as House bill 1159, went into effect July 1, 2019. It bans local government from regulating dangerous trees on residential property. This however, does not give property owners free reign to prune, trim or remove trees as they please.

Property owners living in unincorporated Hillsborough County should be aware that under the new law ...

1. They are required to obtain proper documentation from a Florida licensed landscape architect or certified arborist that the tree clearly presents a threat to the property.
2. Replanting a tree that was considered dangerous to the property and was trimmed, pruned or removed is no longer required.
3. Trees totally void of green foliage is considered to be a dead tree and likely to pose a threat to surrounding property. Dead trees do NOT require a permit but documentation, such as photos of the tree, is highly encouraged.
4. Protections over Mangrove trees remain unchanged by the new law. 
5. Permits are still required for any non-dangerous, healthy trees (all tree species) on both residential and non-residential properties unless otherwise exempt by the Land Development Code.

Don’t know if your tree is considered a danger? Why leave it to chance? Contact a Florida licensed landscape architect or a properly certified arborist, like the ones at Mid Florida Tree Service to evaluate your tree and work with you to come up with the best course of action to keep your property safe.

Oxygen and Ozone Pipe System Cleaning 2019

I wrote about this a few years ago, but it's important enough to cover again. Oxygen and ozone must be handled with care, and their piping systems must be maintained by knowledgeable professionals. To do otherwise my result in violent disassembly of the apparatus resulting in serious injury or fatality.

Many Industrial ozone piping systems involve water treatment, including aquaculture, aquariums, waterparks and others. Ozone is also used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, such as deodorant, in certain gas generators or related appurtenances and in the equipment used by dentists.

Fouled or "Dirty'' oxygen/ozone piping when not properly cleaned before being put into service have a strong possibility of containing oils, solvents, acids, dirt, welding slag, oxidized interior pipe surfaces, construction oriented debris, and other contaminating materials which when left in the piping can cause violent inline reactions. These reactions can cause serious damage, up to the possible destruction of the system and its equipment. The CGA, or Compressed Gas Association, therefore has issued directive G-4.1, specifically about the implementation of proper cleaning for oxygen services due to the serious nature dirty ozone/oxygen piping can present.

Hiring a company such as Professional Piping Services for the cleaning of your oxygen/ozone piping offers many advantages;

• All Professional Piping Services, personnel are trained and accredited to be in compliance with OSHA29, CFR 1910.120, Health and Safety Training
• All work is done in complete compliance with C.G.A. G-4.1
• Provision of a pigging plan detailing procedure and methodology for the cleaning of this system, including monitoring and safety measures
• We provide documented, extensively trained, experienced field crews with mature and knowledgeable supervision
• Proper, knowledgeable and experienced supervision of the entire cleaning project
• Tooling and specialized equipment specifically designed for use in the safe and reliable cleaning of ozone/oxygen piping