Rehabbing Aging Concrete Wastewater Infrastructure

A cementitious product is traditionally used to fix wastewater-related sewage system leaks, but this has drawbacks, as do other coating products.

Because epoxies are restricted by substantially lower elongation in residential or commercial properties, they break and do not bridge fractures well.

For concrete repairs in wastewater facilities from community manholes and lift stations to clarifiers, trenches, and sumps, many have transitioned to a sophisticated polyurea product from ArmorThane called 510H.

The spray-applied water-resistant coating creates a smooth, waterproof, long-lasting protective liner that stops leaks and strengthens the stability of the entire structure. It exhibits remarkable physical residential or commercial properties such as elongation up to 400%, fracture bridging, solidity, and tensile strength to create a robust industrial liner that secures, enhances, and waterproofs concrete wastewater infrastructure.

A number of the polyurea’s qualities help extend wastewater infrastructure longevity and avoid wastewater exfiltration and groundwater infiltration.

Since the polyurea system supplies remarkable elongation, it bridges cracks up to 1/8″. With tensile strength higher than conventional products. It has much lower permeability for much more reliable waterproofing. Its impact, abrasion, and chemical resistance are exceptional so it withstands hydrogen sulfide. The polyurea coating can cost-effectively offer years of protection instead of years between the replacement of cementitious finishes.

With the proper crack repair work and surface preparation, the polyurea coating can be a thick film used straight to the concrete or comparable substrate. An alternate application technique that can sometimes mitigate the need for surface area or crack repairs is to pre-spray the polyurea to geotextile fabric panels positioned above the onsite substrate, merging the panel edges with more polyurea.

Because polyurea can set and cure rapidly, it also minimizes wastewater treatment plant or infrastructure downtime. This can translate into thousands of dollars per hour savings and avoid days of service disruption.