FEATURE ARTICLE

GOOD NEWS FOR WATER SAFETY & RELIABILITY IN RURAL CANADA

A new range of polyethylene water pipe connections is being introduced to the Canadian market with many advantages over fittings now in use. They have received the highest approval standard in Canada (CSA approval and ANSI / NSF 61 for use with potable water supply lines. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) NSF (National Sanitation Foundation)).
The fittings are now being made available through plumbing distribution companies and retailers throughout the country.
These fittings are a breakthrough in the field and set the new standard for Canadian rural water safety and reliability. Rural drinking water supply systems throughout Canada are installed using CSA approved poly pipe. These pipes are manufactured in Canada and meet CSA potable or pure water requirements. It is hard to believe but in Canada, almost every one of these pipes have been and continue to be installed and connected using fittings that are not approved, purchased in retail lumber and hardware stores and even at the plumbing wholesale level. What’s even more frightening is some of these fittings may even contain harmful lead or other toxins.
The Hanflo fitting is the result of a 3-year joint venture between Heat-Line Corporation, the leading Canadian manufacturer of freeze-proof water supply systems, and Hansen Products of New Zealand, the leading pipe fittings manufacturer in New Zealand for the past 17-years. The fittings are designed to replace unapproved metal or non-metal insert and radiator hose clamp fittings for rural pipe applications for water wells, pump installations and irrigation applications for home, farm, or anywhere water is required.
Company President Lorne Heise estimates the Canadian market will exceed 15 million dollars annually. These fittings will become available from coast to coast through reputable Canadian plumbing wholesalers and hardware stores that sell CSA grade pipe.

The fittings are already being developed to fit the slightly different pipe sizes south of the border. At an average cost of $5 dollars (Canadian), the Hanflo fittings are inexpensive, leak proof and easy to use. The only tool required is pump pliers or a wrench.
There are presently 68 different fittings in the Hanflo fitting range and the fittings will continue to be developed to suit the various market requirements.
Heat-Line has been running tests at their manufacturing facility in Haliburton, Ontario this winter and they can’t get them to break when they freeze.
When asked about the importance of the CSA approvals, President Lorne Heise who is a licensed electrician explains, "We wouldn’t even think of connecting electrical wires in Canada with unapproved fittings so why would we ever allow our drinking water pipes to be connected with anything but an approved fitting? There isn’t a store in this country that should continue selling a fitting without the proper approval provided there is an approved replacement. Now there is such a product."
The fittings are patented in Canada and the USA, have been tested at CSA to meet potability requirements to the highest standard ANSI / NSF 61 and also meet CSA and ISO standards not to leak or pull apart. Heise said the fittings will be manufactured in New Zealand and distributed throughout North America exclusively by Heat-Line Corporation but admits that he has already discussed the need for a Canadian assembly plant and manufacturing facility as production demands increase. Land acquisitions for the required expansion are already being considered. Cottage Life Magazine has reviewed the fittings and an article appears in the March 2002 issue. There are plans to show the products across the country and they will be on display at the Cottagefest Show in Markham March 1,2, and 3, and also at the Cottage Life Show in Toronto April5,6,and7.
Heat-Line Corporation plans to launch a number of new and innovative products to the rural and municipal water pipe markets later this year including Carapace, a freeze-proof municipal water pipe application, the solution where it is difficult or impossible to blast below the frost line.
This article courtesy of
Heat-Line Corporation
www.heatline.com