A dangerous problem, witnessed first hand
Howard Heil’s role as the first public works employee, and then superintendent, for the Village of Burr Ridge gave him from-the-ground-up understanding of hydraulics in water distribution systems. His responsibilities included maintaining and expanding a water supply system for a population that grew from less than 2,000 to 11,000 during his nearly 30-year career at Burr-Ridge Illinois. When he started, they were pumping less than 100,000 gallons/day total between two systems. Then reaching 1.7 million in a combined system at retirement.
One of the more disturbing and challenging aspects of his job was witnessing the devastation main breaks could cause including risk of water contamination, road closures and endangerment of lives as workers struggled to make repairs. He began observing patterns in where main breaks occurred and where they didn’t occur – specifically near elevated tanks and pumping stations.
Taking water hammer solution out of the home and into public works
As a self-taught plumber, Howard studied how home water systems used suppression to diminish the effects of water hammer. A banging noise in the home means the water system is missing an air-filled vessel that absorbs the sudden change in pressure caused by turning water on or off quickly. Professional plumbers install shock absorbing devices in heavily used points such as behind a kitchen sink or toilet. In fact, most building codes require surge suppression in homes with suspended pipes.
Howard wondered why the same surge suppression principle couldn’t work for the water industry. In 1992, he began his first trials of introducing surge suppression to Burr Ridge. Subsequently, the entire town experienced fewer main breaks. Village officials and residents were delighted to benefit from more reliable water service and for years afterward, Burr Ridge enjoyed the reputation of having the lowest residential water cost in DuPage County.
Excited about his results with surge suppression in making life better for everyone affected by main breaks, Howard was eager to bring his low cost, effective innovation to his colleagues in public works.
A quarter century of progress
