We’ve seen countless times how epoxy resin can be used to cure and create numerous pieces of art, but what else can it be used for? How about fixing and replacing sewage pipes?
@kennethkaas Just in case you were wondering what I do for living😁 #pipeline #norway
Professional Norwegian plumber Kenneth Kass thought up an ingenious way to use mixed polymers. Instead of using heavy machinery to dig up and change old pipes, he fills them with epoxy resin to replace them from the inside.
The process starts with Kass inspecting the bad pipe with a small camera. Leaking and odors are telltale signs that the pipe needs to be cleaned or replaced. Once the inspection is done, the pipe is cleaned to remove any caked sewage clogging the inside.
@kennethkaas
Now that the inner diameter of the pipe is clean, Kaas and his team can work their magic. A length of felt lining roughly the size of the pipe is measured out. The felt is sealed and sucked of air to prevent bubbles from forming. Only when these steps are completed can the felt slowly be filled with epoxy resin.
@kennethkaas
With liquid resin filling its insides, the felt is flattened and fed into the old pipe by an air compressor. The felt is inflated, and the epoxy resin can cure and harden. After a few hours, a brand new and better-colored pipe is formed inside the old one! Since the felt is pressurized, there isn’t any chance of anything getting between the old and the new pipe.
@kennethkaas
While Kaas’s method can save a lot of time and money (especially in terms of demolition), plumbers can’t use it forever. He’s effectively decreasing the pipe’s inner diameter by filling an old pipe with a new one. This makes it harder for things (i.e., sewage) to pass through and could require more cleaning and maintenance than before.
Despite this minor inconvenience, Kenneth Kaas’ ingenious use of epoxy resin has quite possibly changed the landscape of plumbing forever. His replacement videos are all over TikTok, with more than a couple million views per video.
