Air Testing Equipment
Low pressure air testing was first used in the San Francisco Bay area of California during the middle 1950's. Mr. George C. Reik developed a method to determine leaks in an existing sewer line by using pressurized air.
The Importance of Pipeline Testing
Over the years the question of "why test sewer lines" has been raised many times, but today the answer is obvious. Without the testing of sewer lines, we would be faced with extensive infiltration of ground water which would overload treatment plants and sewer lines, causing damage to our city streets. Exfiltration, on the other hand, would allow raw sewage, chemicals
or other pipeline contents to seep into the ground and contaminate the drinking water.
Methods of Pipeline Testing
There are three basic types of testing available for sewer lines: infiltration, exfiltration and air testing. The infiltration test is done by plugging the upstream manhole and putting a V-shaped device called a weir in the downstream manhole. The amount of water flowing over the calibrated weir should indicate the amount of water infiltrating into the sewer line. The water exfiltration test is accomplished by plugging two manholes and filling one manhole and the pipeline with water. A drop in water level after a period of time would indicate how much water is being lost. The problems associated with infiltration and exfiltration tests are both time consuming and costly and often the tests are inaccurate due to varying ground conditions. In addition these tests provide no way to pinpoint a leak once it is determined it exists.
Air testing is simple and is performed on a sewer line using air as the test media. The system components include pneumatic plugs to seal the pipeline, air hoses to inflate the plugs while pressurizing the pipeline and a main control panel to direct and monitor the air used. Air testing is believed to be the most accurate (because test conditions are controlled), inexpensive and quickest method for sewer line testing.
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