February 2011, Vol. 238 No. 2

TechNotes

Elster Perfection Announces Gas Service Line Retrofit Program

Elster Perfection, manufacturer and supplier of systems for the natural gas, propane and water distribution industries, recently launched its Retrofit Program. The company says it its new program was guided by its customer relationships.

Repair Vs. Replace
The new program uses proven technology to aid in the repair of problematic natural gas service line components and accessories. It consists of five components and assemblies, including the 1) Servi-Sert® Retrofit Adapter, 2) Brass Base Service Tee, 3) Cut-in Curb Valve, 4) Servi-Sert Interchange Riser and 5) the Anodeless Riser Repair Kit.

To minimize excavations, product replacement and hardscape restoration, the new program line allows for the replacement or enhancement of the problematic service line component, reducing costs and minimizing excavation work.

Jim Hansen, senior product manager for the company, said, “Thousands of products from the Retrofit Program line are in use across the United States.”

The company offered one example from the Northeast where a large natural gas utility was faced with costly and labor-intensive replacement of another supplier’s steel tapping tee product that presented a leak potential. Elster Perfection says its solution was the Servi-Sert® Retrofit Adapter, a specially designed part to replace only the faulty compression outlet while salvaging the welded mainline tee. The use of the adapter provided significant cost savings as compared to the traditional replacement method while providing a leak-free connection. The company says using the adapter saved the utility between 15-20% per installation.

In the Midwest, another utility faced the substantial task of replacing nearly 150,000 service line risers due to seal issues in the risers’ service head adapter. Elster Perfection’s alternative to the replacement of the entire riser was the Servi-Sert Interchange Head. The interchange head usually takes less than 30 minutes to install, requires minimal tooling and safely recycles most of the existing non-gas carrying components.
The repair is made by cutting away the suspect head from the flexible casing and replacing it with the interchange head. Using the retrofit product is said to have saved the utility thousands of installation hours and dollars in installation and restoration costs.