Farmington, NM
Summary of the EZ Valve Installation Project
- 8” AVT EZ Valve installed on PVC water line to protect hospital water supply
- Five-and-a-half-hour install, including excavating and backfill
Creating a new Control Point
Engineers at the City of Farmington in New Mexico knew they needed to create a control point outside their local hospital, the San Juan Regional Medical Center (SJRMC). This was to ensure the facility could maintain its water supply should repair work be required in the future.
Jacobs, the City’s operations and maintenance contract for water and wastewater, is a long-term installer of the AVT EZ Valve, so they suggested using the insertion valve to create the control point as it could be installed without the need to shut off the flow.
The new control point would enable the City to isolate different parts of its network without affecting the medical center, but there was a key challenge: the valve needed to be installed on a water line that ran down the center of a road directly outside the SJRMC’s emergency room. For this reason, the decision was made to create the excavation, install the valve, and backfill all in one session. Timing was crucial.
The EZ Valve is well known for its ability to be installed rapidly, but to ensure no issues the Jacob’s team requested AVT specialist installers be on hand during the installation.
With all equipment and the team in place, excavations started at 7.30am. The valve was installed with no hitches and the hole was backfilled with the road re-opened by 1pm. An impressive five-and-a-half-hour installation from start to finish.
During installation, the EZ Valve uses integrated isolation gates, which when closed after a slot has been milled across the pipe, allows the low-profile EM (end milling) machine to be removed and the bonnet with a resilient wedge to be installed, all while the flow is maintained.
AVT’s VP of Global Sales, Shawn Petty attended to ensure the installation went off without a hitch. “Timing was especially key with this installation,” Shawn said. “The Jacobs team knew they had a short window, and we were happy to help ensure they kept to their deadlines.”
Installation training and ongoing support of installers is a key aspect of the customer service delivered by AVT. “We believe training and support doesn’t stop once someone has installed their first EZ Valve,” Shawn said. “We are always on hand to assist in upskilling our installers no matter their level of experience. There is always something to learn within the water industry,” he added.
Jacobs’ Maintenance Project Manager, Shaun Becenti said: “I appreciate Steven (Steven Todd, AVT Regional Account Director) and Shawn for traveling to Farmington to aid on the 8” valve install. Once again, AVT delivered extraordinary service.”
