Mastering Winter Leak Prevention: 6 Best Practices
It’s leak season!
Although leak prevention is critical throughout the year, the colder months of winter calls for extra precautions. Freezing temperatures make leaks more likely to occur, and they significantly increase the likelihood of other problems, like freezing lines and slip hazards.
To keep leaks and costs contained this season and beyond, follow these best practices from Innovator’s QHES Leader, Tyler Douglas.
1. Stay On Top Of Inspections
The best method of containing leaks is preventing them — or catching them early. That’s why inspection is your first line of defense. “In winter, leaks are typically more visible,” Douglas explains, “so it’s important to walk around regularly and inspect your lines so you can catch any leaks early.” Of course, not all leaks are easy to spot, and Innovator has a solution for that as well: “Airborne Ultrasonic Inspection is an effective and economical way to detect leaks that have the potential to go unnoticed — regardless of the time of the year,” he says.
2. Be Proactive
It’s important to have a reliable leak repair provider and stay in touch with them regularly. “Although leak repair is typically more of a reactive service,” Douglas says, “ideally, we’d love to have our technicians at our clients’ facilities to proactively monitor their systems and repair leaks before they become difficult.”
3. Don’t DIY
In an emergency leak situation, the temptation is always there to have an on-site operator put a temporary patch in place; however, this can cause more harm than good in the long run. “Some of our biggest issues come from individuals trying to fix a leak themselves,” Douglas says. “The problem is, once you stop a leak, you want to avoid removing the patch. So when we have to repair over their repair, engineering a solution can take more time and result in a larger, heavier enclosure — which is ultimately more expensive for the end user.
The best thing to do is to get in touch with Innovator right away. “We have the specialization to not only fix the leak, but to also make sure it’s compliant and long-lasting,” says Douglas.
4. Act Fast
For safety’s sake, it’s critical to repair a leak as quickly as possible, which means you need a leak repair specialist who is nearby and prepared for anything. “Our Head Office is located in Edmonton. However, we have fully functional operating facilities located throughout Canada, so we’re strategically able to respond — even for specialty jobs,” Douglas says.
5. Get It Right The First Time
It’s not cost effective or efficient when you have to rely on several different companies to find and fix a leak. Innovator circumvents this issue by cross-training all of their crews. Exceptional training is a cornerstone of Innovators Business. We have developed a cross-training program that enables our technicians to be amongst the most versatile and flexible technicians in the industry. Similar to safety, we wouldn’t compromise training in any situation.”
Innovator technicians are equipped to handle service calls in less time and with less manpower than other providers. “Our folks have the ability to draw on a variety of service lines to help fix a leak,” says Douglas. “An example would be a flange leak: Our technicians would first perform a bolting assessment before they do any leak repair — we always want to make sure we’re addressing the cause of the leak to ensure it is repaired correctly.”
6. Make Sure Time Is On Your Side
With any sort of repair, it’s important to take into consideration the time required for registration and approval of engineered solutions by the governing authority — which, right now, could leave you waiting on them for as long as one month. To help clients avoid this costly waiting period, Innovator has developed a comprehensive library of pre-approved fittings and enclosures. “We’re pre-designing catalogs of fittings to cover as many sizes as we can think of and those we see trending in the facilities we serve, so we can get those designed and pre-registered with the right authorities to make them available,” Douglas says. He adds, “It’s important for us to provide a high level of customer service — it’s a big investment for Innovator, but it provides big savings for our clients.”
If you have a leak, Innovator can save the day. But following best practices for leak repair can prevent bigger problems and bigger expenses down the road. Learn more by downloading our tip sheet, which provides six useful tips for addressing on-stream leaks. Then, give us a call — because leak-free is the way to be!
Innovator Industrial Solutions teams handles every industrial pipeline project with commitment and integrity. Contact us by email at info@innovatorind.com, by phone at (855) 436-4666, or on our website. You’ll never need to contact anyone else.
