2020: The Numbers, The Highlights, The Conversations

We’re in the home stretch of 2020, and a new year is right around the corner. Before we ring in the new year, we’d like to share a few brief updates on the activity that took place in 2020.

Let’s Start With the Numbers

Even with the changes that 2020 brought to the world, we were still able to support a number of city and local municipalities, telecommunications organizations and power companies with their inflow challenges. Check out these details:

50,000 PRO-RINGS were installed across the United States, Canada and Australia – that’s an increase from 2019!
7,000 LSS Internal Chimney Seals were installed for our customers
2,500 X-85 External Chimney Seals were installed for our customers
80 free product demonstrations were conducted
0 warranty claims were made on the PRO-RING – that’s 10 years without a warranty claim!

We Encountered A Number Of Interesting Site Scenarios

No two work sites are the same, and that certainly was the case in 2020 as well. Here’s a quick recap of a few of the interesting work sites we encountered.

LSS Internal Chimney Seal Demo in Northeast, WI: The structure requiring the seal was a valve vault that was filled with water every time the utility went to the location to exercise the valve. To complete this required routine maintenance task, they set up a pump and drew down the water that had leaked in, making the operation more time consuming than it should have been. The solution that we proposed was to install an LSS Internal Manhole Chimney Seal to stop the leak and prevent any water from leaking into the structure.
PRO-RING Demo in the Pacific Northwest: The manhole frame in this situation needed to be matched to an existing roadway, which had more than a typical slope. We installed three PRO-RING Angle Rings along with two Grade Rings and one Finish Ring to successfully achieve a near perfect match to the surrounding pavement.
PRO-RING Demo in Northeast WI: A customer was challenged by a frame and grate that wouldn’t align with the curb. We used the PRO-RING to solve the issue. We used four Finish rings and “corbelled” them so the frame was positioned as required. This is not an installation that is typically recommended; however, the location of the issue is in a low traffic residential area. Heavy truck traffic is not anticipated, equating to a substantial decrease in potential issues.
HydraTite Internal Joint Seal Installation In Australia: The team at Aqua Metro Services and Professional Diving Services, successfully completed the underwater installation of two, 78” diameter HydraTite Internal Joint Seals. These seals were specially designed and consisted of a Nitrile Rubber membrane and 316L stainless steel retaining bands. The seals were installed to eliminate leaking joints in a line carrying post treatment Ozonated effluent at a large wastewater treatment facility.
PRO-RING Installation in Northeast Oklahoma: The building, located within a large industrial complex, had been erected, and a concrete floor was placed directly over a sanitary sewer manhole. There was no true way to access the sewer. Periodic inspection, cleaning and televising of the sewer was necessary, so a manhole frame and cover was needed. Because the manhole was inside, the frame and cover installation would require something that would prevent sewer gas from escaping. A gasketed, bolt down frame and cover, along with the PRO-RING, was installed.

Important, And Necessary Conversations Took Place

We, along with many municipalities, telecommunications and power companies, needed to adapt this year. We’ve had numerous budget conversations with customers and prospects, and offered a number of tips on how to maximize budgets in 2021 and how to save time by installing the right products.

What Will 2021 Bring? Although we can’t predict what 2021 will bring, we are confident that the need to maintain, rehabilitate or replace aging sewer infrastructure will remain. We’ll continue to support these needs by offering free product demonstrations. The demonstrations offer customers and prospects the opportunity to see Cretex Specialty Products in action and work with the product in a hands-on environment. These two benefits have enabled numerous customers to determine the best approach for solving their inflow