Aquatherm, ProPress smack-down

By Timothy Allinson, P.E.,
Murray Co., Long Beach, Calif.

A few months ago I was on an airplane en route to the Bay Area when the fellow next to me ordered a “Jack on the rocks.” The flight attendant soon handed him one of those plastic airline cocktail cups filled to the brim with Jack Daniels and one ice cube. We both looked at this lethal libation and laughed at the absurdity of it and the fact that he had about five minutes to drink the thing.

This introduction got us talking; it turned out that we work in the same industry and that he had just met with a gentleman I know well at the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles. I asked what the meeting was about. He said that he was seeking approval of the product he reps, Aquatherm Pipe, for use in the City of Los Angeles.

Our meeting was quite karmic, as I had recently been giving a lot of thought to plastic pipe, and the possible benefits it may provide for our plumbing industry. We exchanged business cards and agreed to stay in touch.

A few days later, I e-mailed my new friend, Marty Hayes, with a request for pricing information, as I had started an exercise comparing the relative cost of various piping materials. He sent me a spreadsheet with unit material and labor costs for Aquatherm, comparing it with soldered copper pipe and Viega ProPress copper (the copper fittings that are pressed onto the pipe with mechanical jaws).

My company uses a lot of ProPress. We are big fans of the product because of how quickly and easily it goes together. As I looked at the labor units for Aquatherm (a thermal fusion product) versus ProPress, the numbers weren’t making sense. The spreadsheet implied that the Aquatherm product goes together 10 times faster than ProPress does. I questioned Marty on this. He said that the labor units were given to them by subcontractors who had used both products; they had not been determined by Aquatherm.
I said, “Well, those plumbers must be mistaken. There’s no way it could go together that much faster than ProPress.” In fact, I would have bet it went together slower than ProPress did.

Having no other basis for comparison I suggested a competition, here in my company’s shop, fabricating two identical manifolds, one out of copper ProPress and one out of Aquatherm. “One of our guys can do the ProPress and one of yours can fab the Aquatherm, since we have no experience with it yet.” Marty thought this sounded like a great challenge, and we set about the details of getting it done.

I consulted with our vice president of field operations, who thought it was a neat idea. He gave me a bill of materials to share with both teams so that they would each have the necessary pipe and fittings on hand the day of the competition. We prepared a drawing of the manifold each team would create but didn’t share the drawing with either team until the day of the competition.

Marty’s team included Geoff Babbitt, president and owner of Sustainable Building Products, the western states vendor for Aquatherm, and Adam Clark, director of training and marketing resources at Aquatherm. Adam coordinated the event from their end and brought three video cameras to document the process.

Both teams gathered in our shop on May 11. Our shop foreman, Frank Hargrove, set up two identical workstations for the teams. Their fabricator was Bernie Forsee, Aquatherm’s Canadian-based head trainer for North America. Our fabricator was Marty Ricco, one of our best foremen.

Fabrication began at 7:30 a.m. It was immediately apparent that there was a difference in processes between the two systems. Since the ProPress goes together with a series of tees, the copper pipe was first chopped into seven pieces that were then pressed together with elbows and tees. The Aquatherm has drilled branches, so the pipe stayed in one piece (except for the upturned elbow).

To my surprise, the Aquatherm fittings went together faster than I expected. The heating and cooling process was quite rapid, especially since the heating paddles are two-sided, allowing the fabricator to heat the male and female side of the drilled tee at the same time.

When all was said and done, the ProPress did win the race, but not by much: 28 minutes, versus 34 minutes for the Aquatherm. Both manifolds were pressure-tested with 100 psi and passed. It should be noted that the relative speed of the two systems would vary depending on the particular fabrication. There might be instances where the Aquatherm could go together faster — or even slower.

To its credit, although the Aquatherm took 20% longer to fab, the manifold was 60% lighter (8 lbs. vs. 20 lbs.) and less expensive — from 34% to 46% less, depending on the temperature and pressure requirements of the system. Aquatherm has several different domestic water products — SDR 7.4 for hot water and higher-pressure cold water and SDR 11 for lower-pressure cold water, both available with or without “faser,” which contributes to the temperature and pressure rating.

The bottom line is that there are pros and cons to each product that are worth considering if Aquatherm is approved in your municipality. Aquatherm is lighter and less expensive. It has an R value of 1, meaning that it might require thinner insulation for hot water and none for cold water, even in cold weather climates, but the insulation might be larger in diameter since the plastic OD is greater than copper. Also, it is resistant to the chemicals that are sometimes found in local water supplies that can be aggressive toward copper. ProPress goes together a little faster, requires fewer hangers and does not require the power connection that Aquatherm requires for its heating paddles. And, of course, it is copper, not plastic, which has a history in our industry. Then again, to quote the movie The Graduate:

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?

Clearly, what Mr. McGuire meant was that for Benjamin, a recent college grad, there were great opportunities in the future of plastics. I think the same holds true today for our plumbing industry.

If, after weighing the pros and cons, you are leaning toward Aquatherm, be sure you select the appropriate material for your pressure and temperature conditions and zone your systems accordingly. When properly selected, the Aquatherm pressure rating is equal to or greater than the 200 psi rating of ProPress. For pressures greater than that you may need to revert to soldered or brazed copper, or perhaps select Corzan CPVC or another higher-pressure plastic pipe.

 

Timothy Allinson is a senior professional engineer with Murray Co., Mechanical Contractors, in Long Beach, Calif. He holds a bsme from Tufts University and an mba from New York University. He is a professional engineer licensed in both mechanical and fire protection engineering in various states, and is a leed accredited professional. Allinson is a past-president of aspe, both the New York and Orange County Chapters.