Safe Industrial Wastewater Disposal

The Austrian industrial company AGRANA, with a facility in Aschach an der Donau, planned a wastewater pipeline that runs through a water protection zone. Since it had to be permanently monitored and pressure-tight, the egeSmart:Leak Control 3L was deployed.

At the Aschach industrial site, AGRANA refines the natural raw material corn into high-quality starch-based products. For a new disposal pipeline in a drinking water protection zone, a fully monitored pipe system with permeation protection was selected in consultation with the Upper Austrian State Government—pressure-tight and with an outer diameter of OD 630 mm.

Over a length of 170 m, the egeSmart:Leak Control 3L with electronic leak monitoring was installed. This system enables permanent monitoring of the pipeline section in the drinking water protection zone. For this purpose, the electrically conductive intermediate layer made of aluminum is permanently subjected to a low voltage. The resistance of the integrated aluminum layer is then monitored by a grounded monitoring unit. An alarm is triggered even in the event of minor damage. The signal can also be transmitted via GSM and used to shut down the pipeline. The system also enables precise location of a damage point.

The entire civil engineering work was carried out by the construction company Weber Bau GmbH from Rohrbach, Austria. In the drinking water protection zone, both the excavation work and the handling of heavy welding equipment were performed with care. The pipe ends of the 12-meter sections were butt-welded. After each weld, the conductivity was checked. After completion of the entire pipe section, the function was tested from beginning to end using a control cable and connected to the monitoring system.