August 8th, 2006

Water Hammer – Finally Conquered!

We have all heard it… BANG! goes the water pipes in your home when the water supply is turned off by the washing machine, dishwasher, or even when you turn off some taps in your home. This effect is known as “water hammer” or “hydraulic shock”, and apart from the irritating noise it makes, actually causes damage to the pipes in your home.

Now, imagine what would happen if the pipes were 30 – 40 cm diameter pipes. Well, I have seen what happens. In one mine that I worked, I saw where about a dozen 1″ roof bolts were broken because of water hammer in the pipe that was hanging from them. It is absolutely amazing to see!

There have been many companies try to solve this problem. Some try to dampen the effect. Their solutions only partly solve the problem, and some of them come with some big adverse side-effects. Another (very expensive way) of solving this problem is by installing “soft-start” pumps that ramp up / ramp down the speed of the pump. Again, this only covers some of the times where water hammer occurs.

Now, a company in Australia has developed a water hammer arrestor that eliminates (positive and negative) hydraulic shock 100% effectively.

Not only can the device eliminate water hammer in pipes containing water at any pipe size and pressure, it can also combat this shock in steam, gas, air, sludge or just about any other fluid. The applications cover both residential installations and industries such as mining, oil/gas, etc.

The arrestor is not presently available for sale, but more information will be available on a website currently being prepared by the developers of the arrestor. I will post further details as they become available.

What are your experiences with water hammer? Has water hammer been a real headache to you? Let us know by posting a comment.

Calvin Close
Managing Director
miningreference.com – Australia’s Premier Mining Directory