Pipe Lining

« Return to video

To understand this pipe replacement process, you need to learn a new acronym: CIPP. It stands for Cured in Place Piping Technology, and it allows JEA to avoid the inconvenience, time and cost often associated with traditional dig and replace methods of installing very large or deep sewer pipes.

Kevin Morrell/JEA Contractor says: “The first thing when you pull up on a job, someone says ‘are you digging up my yard’ or ‘are you digging up my business?’ This is a trenchless process. It’s quicker. It’s better. And people don’t get as aggravated.”

Crews need three basic items to rehabilitate old inefficient sewer pipes using Cured in Place technology. They need lots of liner, lots of hot water and a big old pipe that needs fixing.  In this case, JEA is replacing a very large 48-inch sewer main that is 20 feet underground.

Crews start by bypassing the wastewater from nearby homes and businesses into temporary pipes placed above the ground. This allows our customers to stay in service while we complete the work. Soon after, crews lower a resin-saturated felt tube or liner, through the existing manhole, into the old pipe. The liner is then filled with water and the hydraulic pressure pushes it through the existing host pipe.

Kevin Morrell/JEA Contractor says: “Then what we do is put the liner through, it’s like a sock it rolls out. It’s better and quicker and more efficient, us lining it what they call a trenchless process.”

After the liner is rolled out inside the old pipe, hot water is pumped into the liner to cure the resin and create a new pipe inside the old one. Individual sewer services on the new main are then restored on the new main using a robotic cutting device.

The entire CIPP process can usually be done in a week or less depending on the size of the project, saving nearby businesses and homeowners months of inconvenient construction.