Monitored Drinking Water Transmission Pipeline in Lichtenfels

Supply and operational reliability have absolute priority for Stadtwerke Lichtenfels. When constructing a new drinking water pipeline through impassable and difficult-to-access terrain using trench-reduced and trenchless installation methods, they therefore used the fully monitored egeplast SLM^® DCS pipe system – for maximum safety.

The new drinking water pipeline, totaling almost 3.8 km in length, transports soft water for water mixing from Buch am Forst to Grub am Forst and also serves as a backup supply for dry summer periods with high water demand. The route runs through rough and difficult-to-access terrain, through forests along farm tracks, and crosses several roads. For this reason, in addition to open-trench Installation, Installation using milling and horizontal directional drilling was also employed – the latter even involving rock drilling. To protect their drinking water transport pipeline, the Stadtwerke Lichtenfels (municipal utilities) opted for the monitored SLM® DCS pipe system. It monitors the functionality of monitored drinking water transport pipelines during operation and detects pipeline damage early – even before a leak occurs.

Ingenieurbüro Kittner und Weber was commissioned with the planning. The pipeline was delivered as required in long coiled bundles of 300 m each to achieve installation and processing advantages and to have as few connection points as possible. VSTR AG Rodewisch undertook the construction of the pipeline after comprehensive instruction in the system by egeplast technicians. Michael Holhut, Stadtwerke Lichtenfels, says: “The choice fell on the SLM® DCS pipe system because the route is relatively long and difficult to access. Pure monitoring via input and output meters has excessively long reaction times, and with this system, it is now possible to precisely locate damage or a leak and quickly repair any damage.”