Pipeline gets critical water solution before winter storm hits

The Gulf South region is no stranger to adverse weather patterns. From hurricanes to strong thunderstorms, the South has seen it all. However, a pattern not often seen is extremely low temperatures. The Arctic blast that moved across the U.S. in February brought record-low temperatures to a region mostly unaccustomed to them. With only about a week's notice until the storm hit, industrial companies throughout the region found themselves having to shore up their equipment and jobsites to prepare for the worst.

That's the situation a major pipeline owner found itself in a week before the storm hit, scrambling to find a solution for over 630,000 gallons of impacted hydrotest water along a 5.5-mile section of 24-inch pipeline in Louisiana. This pipeline section was a crucial artery that provided natural gas to a power plant. Failing to find a solution in time would be devastating not only to the pipeline itself, but to the countless residents and businesses that would depend on that plant for energy during the unprecedented storm.

Mobile Mini Tank + Pump Solutions stepped in and worked with contractors to develop a number of potential solutions, finally settling on a filtration system consisting of weir tanks, high-head pumps, bag filters and carbon filters. The goal was to work quickly to get the equipment on-site and operating to filter the impacted hydrotest water before the brunt of the storm arrived. The equipment would filter the impacted water on the fly directly from the pipeline and discharge right-of-way. All necessary permits were obtained from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

As soon as a solution was determined, Mobile Mini got to work. The equipment was delivered quickly, set up and continually manned by two teams from Mobile Mini that provided periodic filtration media changeouts and ensured the pumps were fueled. The two teams faced grueling conditions even before the main storm arrived, in some cases facing near-blizzard conditions.

In the end, only 36 hours passed between when the customer identified the looming problem to when Mobile Mini had a solution and delivered equipment on-site. Only 28 hours later, all 630,000 gallons of impacted hydrotest water were successfully filtered.

With the pipeline going on line shortly after, the pipeline owner was able to successfully deliver much-needed natural gas to the power plant, which helped local residents and businesses stay warm during the storm.

"Mobile Mini is a total solution provider," said Chris Denton, Mobile Mini industrial sales representative and point person on this project. "Our wide-ranging experience combined with our available rental fleet allows us to deliver turnkey solutions to our customers at a moment's notice. It was this combination that quickly allowed us to deliver a solution to our customer, and they couldn't be happier with the outcome."

Mobile Mini has decades of experience developing solutions quickly and effectively for all sorts of adverse weather conditions. From hurricane preparedness to flood control or stormwater pollution prevention plans, Mobile Mini has the expertise and breadth of rental equipment to provide a solution for almost any situation.

For more information, visit http://storage.mobilemini.com/bic2021 or call (844) 792-9709.