Has a 75 year design-life – superior materials

All sewer collection systems are subject to environmental degradation over the course of their design-life. Historically, a variety of materials have been used in the construction of sewer systems, varying initially from wood and tile, to brick and concrete, to asbestos-cement and PVC pipes. All of these piping systems have joints to enable field assembly, and all have relatively short lifetimes before significant maintenance, re-lining or replacement is required. The Clearford SBS™ system utilizes superior construction materials which have a design-life far exceeding the typical design-life expectancy of historic systems; the expected design-life of historic gravity sewer systems is in the order of 30-35 years. The SBS™ collection piping system is constructed of thermal welded high density polyethylene (HDPE), which has a life expectancy in excess of 90 years when properly installed. The resulting all welded HDPE piping system installation has no gasketted joints or dissimilar material surfaces where failures can occur.

A variety of external factors act on sewer pipes over the course of their lifetime, such as root intrusion, soil settlement, frost, earthquake, etc. Soil overburden and external physical forces work to compress the pipe wall and the joints between pipe sections and rigid structures. The seamless SBS™ system has none of these joint integrity issues, and in fact, the HDPE welded joints are stronger than the regular wall of the pipe. Additionally, the HDPE pipe has many other superior qualities compared to historic sewer pipes, such as: deformation and shock load absorption, extraordinary smoothness, chemical and abrasion resistance, resistance to sunlight, and freeze-thaw and temperature cycles. All of these factors add up to produce a superior longevity and life-cycle performance when compared to historic gravity sewer systems and materials. Corrosion and tuberculation of pipes are also a serious problem with metallic pipe materials; HDPE pipe does not share these issues, resulting in a lifetime of better flow characteristics with no corrosion degradation problems. As well, Clearford’s concrete clarifier units are designed with lifetime expectancies in excess of 50 years, compared to a 35 year lifetime expectancy of typical municipal concrete infrastructure. High strength, high density 35 MPa concrete is used and all clarifiers are specially designed, detailed and thickened to withstand the full range of expected forces, including vacuum.