News

Hafren Dyfrdwy have just completed their 2019 Mains Cleaning project in Wrexham, using ‘Ice Pigging’, which has been running since September.  ‘Ice Pigging’ is a method where crushed ice is pushed through the pipes to remove sediment and built-up deposits, leaving the pipe clear, and has proved very effective.

Richard Simpson, from Hafren Dyfrdwy said, “So we can make sure our water network is in the best possible condition, there are times where we have to carry out essential work to clean the pipes. Naturally occurring sediment sometimes settles at the bottom of water pipes, so Ice Pigging is a fast and effective way of taking that out of the pipe. By cleaning the pipes, we’ve helped to massively reduce the chances of our customers ever experiencing discoloured water, as any burst pipes, or activity on the water pipes can cause the sediment to be lifted into the supply, which is something we want to avoid happening.”

Hafren Dyfrdwy employed industry specialists Suez to complete fourteen cleaning runs between September 5th and October 14th, each of them taking place overnight in order to minimise customer disturbance. 17,346 metres of pipes were cleaned, using 250 cubic meters of ice slurry. Over two tonnes of sediment was removed in total, which meets the predicted target.

Richard added: “In order to do this work, we had to close some roads and use traffic lights, and so we thank those affected for their patience with this. We’re really happy to say we had zero customer complaints relating to the cleaning process or traffic management, and many customers weren’t aware that work was being done in the area. The cleaning programme will continue next year and will help to ensure the network is significantly cleaner, which means we can continue to provide customers with great quality water.”