What the heck is pipe tapping? I had no idea, but when I heard that we had national winners from the area, I wanted to find out since it will be held at the Spring Fair on Saturday, April 17.
Pipe tapping is when skilled technical teams drill and tap a water-pressurized iron pipe, install a stop, cut and flare copper tubing with relative fittings to make connections at the main, a curb stop, and finally at a meter yoke. Whew!
They move at the speed of lightening. It requires speed, accuracy, agility and strength to get the job done in the fastest amount of time. Each team gets two attempts to complete the event within 30 minutes (that leaves me out!), and the shortest time gets recorded.
Last year, the number one spot in the American Water Works Association’s 2009 Conference went to Tacoma Water. Their team of four men beat all other competitors in the United States and Canada, coming in at an amazing time of one minute, 13 seconds.
Check out this new Spring Fair event on Saturday to see if the competitors can beat the world champion time!
Pipe tapping is when skilled technical teams drill and tap a water-pressurized iron pipe, install a stop, cut and flare copper tubing with relative fittings to make connections at the main, a curb stop, and finally at a meter yoke. Whew!
They move at the speed of lightening. It requires speed, accuracy, agility and strength to get the job done in the fastest amount of time. Each team gets two attempts to complete the event within 30 minutes (that leaves me out!), and the shortest time gets recorded.
Last year, the number one spot in the American Water Works Association’s 2009 Conference went to Tacoma Water. Their team of four men beat all other competitors in the United States and Canada, coming in at an amazing time of one minute, 13 seconds.
Check out this new Spring Fair event on Saturday to see if the competitors can beat the world champion time!
I have the pleasure of working at Tacoma Water with this group of great guys! If you have never seen a pipe tapping competition then you are missing out! Just watching them gets my adreneline pumping!
ReplyDeleteTacoma Water's men's Tapping Team won the 2010 Regional Pipe Tapping Competition with a time of one minute nine seconds (1:09) during the Pacific North West Section American Water Works Association’s WaterWorks Conference Tacoma Wednesday, May 12. The team will get to defend their 2009 National Championship title during the AWWA’s national conference in Chicago June 21-23. The team will also represent the City of Tacoma and the United States in the World Cup competition to be held June 20.
ReplyDelete