Water is a very powerful element. Its power, when properly tame and directed, can help a person and make life much easier. Pressurized water, when it is sufficiently high and generated by advanced, robust equipment, is very useful in various sectors of the economy, for example in all kinds of industries, construction and manufacturing. And it’s not just about using it to clean surfaces and wash devices with high-pressure cleaners. Pressurized water can also be used to process various types of materials, remove coatings or cut surfaces. Performing all these activities enables hydromonitoring.
Hydromonitoring is in short the treatment of various types of surfaces with a jet of water directed at them under very high pressure. A special high-pressure unit first compresses the water and then releases it at great speed. Such a stream is really powerful, thanks to which you can clean various surfaces from hard-to-remove, baked coatings, crush materials, remove their individual layers, and even cut through very hard structures. In addition to high pressure, the flow of water is also important – the more water there is, the more power is achieved by hydro-monitoring.
What should a monitor have?
A monitor as defined in the dictionary is a device used to rinse sand, earth and the like with a very powerful stream of water. Hydromonitors (sometimes also classified as high-pressure washers) are devices that must have an extremely solid structure, because they throw water under pressure of up to several thousand bar. Hydromonitors have a wide range of possibilities and, depending on the power, pressure range and water flow, they are suitable for various types of work in industry, production or construction.
Hydromonitoring – advantages and application
Hydromonitoring is a great alternative to various abrasive blasting methods, such as sandblasting or hydro-sandblasting. In this case, no abrasive is required, which reduces the cost of work, as well as the amount of troublesome waste. All you need is water. Hydromonitoring is safer for health, because the processed material does not dust and does not generate any chemical vapors or sewage that could be dangerous to people and harmful to the environment. The water used by monitoring is clean, it contains only elements of the processed material, so it does not pollute the groundwater. Hydromonitoring can be performed in virtually all conditions (for obvious reasons, except on days when the temperature drops well below zero). Hydromonitoring, like high pressure cleaning, allows you to remove heavy industrial dirt, but it is not the main application of this technique. High-pressure water is great for cutting and machining hard materials. Hydromonitoring is used to remove various types of coatings (e.g. rubber, bitumen, paint), remove road markings, renovate concrete, remove corrosion or old plaster. High-pressure water is also great for treating concrete, brick or steel surfaces before covering them with a new coating. Water perfectly detaches a dirty, weak or corroded surface layer of the substrate, it can dull it, prepare it for further processing or covering.
Hydromonitoring as a technique for demolition of structures
Hydromonitoring enables quick and effective chipping of concrete. Demolition with high pressure water is very precise and is often used for complex reinforced concrete elements, on bridges, water management facilities or in industrial construction. Demolition with the use of hydro-monitoring is safer because, unlike pneumatic hammers or other heavy devices, hydro-monitoring does not shock the entire structure. It is very important because such shocks cause microscopic cracks, which in turn lead to violation of the strength parameters of the main structure and other buildings located in the immediate vicinity of the place where the works are performed. Hydromonitoring is therefore an ideal method of demolition when only the building components need to be removed and the main structure remains intact. It also works well in places where noise and shocks would disturb the residents. Hydromonitoring eliminates these problems, and only requires access to water and its efficient drainage.