Live Valve Insertion

Somebody built the system without a valve where you now need one. Maybe there was never an isolation point on that riser, maybe the nearest one is 200 metres away down a culvert, or maybe the one that’s there won’t close any more. Live valve insertion puts a working valve into the pipe while the line stays in service.

On steel water lines from 100mm to 300mm we do that with the EZ2 valve system. It’s a mechanical fit, so nothing gets welded to your pipe and nothing gets cut out of it.

Call 1800 468 827 with your pipe size, material and what’s in the line, and we’ll tell you whether a valve can be inserted.

Can you install a valve on a live water pipe?

Yes, within limits. The EZ2 goes onto steel, cast iron, ductile iron and some PVCs, it’s rated to 1600 kPa, and in Australia we install 100mm, 150mm, 200mm, 250mm and 300mm. The constraint is access rather than the pipe: the valve body wraps right around it and the milling machine sits on top, so you need clearance all the way round. Some jobs don’t suit the method, and we’d rather say so on the phone than find out on site.

What is the EZ2 valve system?

An insertion valve made by Advanced Valve Technologies. The body is a full encirclement ductile iron casting with an FBE coating, stainless steel fasteners and a sacrificial anode for cathodic protection, and the materials meet AS 2638.2 and AS/NZS 4158.

What makes it work on old pipe is the resilient wedge. Rather than cut a coupon out of the line, the machine mills a 41mm slot across 120° of the crown, and the wedge seals against the host pipe even where the bore is badly tuberculated.

How does the valve insertion machine work?

Three operations, all under line pressure. The castings go on over lubricated gasket sets, get bolted up and pressure tested before anything is cut. An end mill mounts where the bonnet will sit, and the casting assembly rotates on its double seal gaskets so the cutter can travel its 120°, with a chip flush carrying the swarf to waste.

Then the integral isolation valve closes, which lets us take the milling machine off and bolt the bonnet on with the line still live. Open it again, wind the gate down into the bore, and the valve works on the normal number of turns.

Insertion valve or line stop?

A stop is temporary. It holds the flow back while you work, then comes out and leaves the pipe as it was. An inserted valve stays in the line permanently.

The EZ2 will do either, which is the part people don’t expect. Its bonnet is removable, so one installation can be left as a permanent insertion valve, or fitted with a blind flange and used as a single excavation line stop. On sizes and materials it doesn’t cover we tap the line under pressure and insert a mechanical stop through the fitting, or freeze it with liquid nitrogen.

Can you insert a valve into a live water main?

That’s the job the system was built for. It was designed for below ground mains, the installation happens in one excavation, and the castings sit low enough that the hole can usually be plated over rather than fenced off. Nothing is drained, so the main doesn’t need re-chlorinating before it goes back into supply.

What if the existing valve won’t close?

This is the call we get most often on building services: a valve on a riser has stopped sealing, and the pump downstream can’t be touched until something holds the water back.

We did one on the ground floor of a 26 storey Southbank tower where a 250mm lugged valve on the 250mm condenser water riser wouldn’t shut. The riser was at 1100 to 1200 kPa and the bore was heavily tuberculated, which is the condition that defeats a lot of isolation methods. The wedge sealed anyway, and the client got on with the valve change.

Why Australian Hot Taps

We’ve worked on live pipelines since 1996, and we were the first company accredited by the Office of Gas Safety, now Energy Safe Victoria, in 1998. Live valve insertion on steel water lines is one of the few things we do that no other Australian hot tapping company offers.

It isn’t always straightforward. On one venue redevelopment we had to fit 250mm chilled water valves upside down in an external stair void. Inverted, the chip flush let swarf build up until the integral slide gate wouldn’t close. We cleared it without damaging the chilled water system, then added two 50mm chip flushes to the milling machine adaptor plate so the next inverted install wouldn’t do it again.

What helps us quote it

Main size and how you get to the pipe decide most of an insertion price, because the excavation is usually the bigger half. The rest helps:

• Pipe size and material
• What’s in the line, and at what pressure
• Whether you want a permanent valve or a temporary isolation
• Clearance around the pipe, and whether it runs vertical or horizontal
• Where the water can go while we cut, so the drainage copes with the chip flush
• Any drawings or photos

Call 1800 468 827 or email [email protected]. If you’re not sure whether your line suits an inserted valve, just give us a call, we’ll ask a few questions and let you know.

Where we work

We operate from depots in Bayswater, Victoria and Currumbin Waters, Queensland, and we have clients in all states and territories of Australia as well as the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. We regularly fly in and out to service our clients.

Water authorities and councils are the usual callers for this one, which is why we have pages for Tamworth and the New England, the Central Coast and Broken Hill.

Live valve insertion is one of ten live pipeline services we provide. We also offer squash offs, thermowell and instrument pockets, live gas diversions, live leak repair and testing and purging.

Sizes, materials and what the EZ2 replaces