Elara Engineering has successfully replaced the plumbing piping and addressed water pressure issues that had persisted in the 25-story Waterford Condominium building located in the City of Chicago. Specifically, the building was experiencing excessive domestic water pressure in fixtures at its base while insufficient pressure was occurring in the upper floors. The existing galvanized piping system was experiencing regular leaks creating regular maintenance costs, damage, and inconvenience to the building occupants. To design and implement a practical, innovative path forward, Elara performed an engineering analysis to determine the best value solution to comply with current code requirements while maintaining full occupancy for the building’s residents throughout construction.
At its completion, the following project results were successfully delivered.
- Replaced domestic water booster pumps and all domestic water piping with new copper piping.
- Converted a building-wide single pressure domestic water system to a code compliant design that established four pressure zones utilizing one pressure reducing valve station.
- Added master thermostatic mixing valves during re-piping of the domestic hot water heater plant and replaced the main domestic hot water recirculation pump for temperature control.
- Replaced all main distribution waste and vent piping with new epoxy lined cast iron piping.
- Cleaned existing vertical waste and vent piping to enhance future maintenance capabilities.
Additional information about this project can be found here, or by contacting Adam Sanders, Associate Principal, directly at asanders@elaraeng.com.
