Ongoing water shortages relating to insufficient and ageing infrastructure and lack of proper maintenance in South Africa and Africa, make mechanical pipe-joining systems manufacturer Victaulic’s safe, efficient and cost-effective pipe joining solution, which eliminates hazardous welding and reduces risks for workers during installation, a promising development.

Victaulic has developed a new joining solution for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe that eliminates the fusing of pipes, with no heating or cooling pipe-ends required.

“Victaulic’s plain end solutions HDPE pipe couplings, fittings and connectors technology are easy to install. Therefore, it can be used in remote areas where there is no electricity supply or skilled labour to weld,” explains Victaulic regional manager Marcel Ley.

“Victaulic plain end solutions installs the same way in any weather, so there’s no heartache over lost time and no extra heating and cooling time required for extreme weather.”

Ley explains that the Victaulic technology enables the coupling to be installed up to ten times faster than conventional joining methods: “This can help you to finish projects ahead of schedule.”

Aftermarket Services

“All our components are manufactured in-house, and we have stamping and marking on our products to show us when it was produced, in what foundry and who made it, so we can trace it back.”

Ley says the Victaulic technical team trains people how to use the company’s product to ensure that product quality is maintained. “If they install it correctly, we know that the product lasts longer and works the way it was designed to work.”

He explains that the marking is beneficial in a situation where something may go wrong with the product, and the company would be able to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.

This would help us to establish whether it was an installation fault or a manufacturing fault; if it was our fault, the company would take liability.

He concludes that buried services are one of the applications for the Victaulic couplings, with the company providing industry accepted coatings that protect the housings and hardware from the harsh underground environment.