As a manufacturer, we invest a lot of resources into developing our product line. With the largest North American laboratory, specializing in concrete permeability testing, right here at our head office, we can be quick to develop products to fill new industry voids that present themselves. However, lab settings do have the drawback of being controlled environments, when on the job application is anything but. The variables cannot always be controlled, from weather, to overlapping with other trades, to unforeseen physical obstacles which can prevent proper application; the unexpected is always around the corner. Often the situation must be faced head-on, with little room for error, and even less time for preparation.
When dealing with crack and water ingress, a common occurrence is heavy water flow through the cracks that can be very difficult to slow. Occasionally, it can even be hazardous - Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats)’s slag granulation cooling tower reservoir in Rustenburg, South Africa, had several flaws in its’ original sheet membrane system, which was supposed to effectively waterproofing the concrete structure against leaks. These flaws allowed the extremely hot (80 C° [176 F°]) water to infiltrate the porous concrete, causing cracks over an area of approximately 4000m2, and leading to severe near-boiling water leakage.
As the tanks could not be emptied, the workers had to stop the leaks by hand while the extremely hot water flowed out at them. It was imperative that the material used could stop the water flow as quickly as possible.
Enter Krystol Plug:
Krystol Plug is a fast setting cementitious powder that, when mixed to a stiff-dough consistency with water, may be used to immediately arrest the seepage or flow of water through concrete voids. Krystol Plug is used to stop flowing water, allowing waterproofing repair to be installed in leaking cracks, holes, joints or any place where water is penetrating a concrete structure.
Our distributor in South Africa, Sanika, demonstrated the benefits of using Krystol Plug, along with Kryton’s Leak Repair system for the repair work. After preparing the bare concrete surface, the repair team for the Impala Mine had to act quickly with Krystol Plug as the almost boiling water poured through the cracks. The Krystol plug performed perfectly, stopping the water seepage through the cracks quickly allowing for continued implementation for the remaining products to complete the system. Over five miles of these leaking cracks were successfully plugged with Krystol Plug, facilitating the proper crack repair could be done without worrying about boiling water interfering with the quality of the repair, and ensuring the tank a much longer life expectancy then otherwise would be seen.