January 14, 2026
Last fall, our field crews completed a large-scale flushing and debris removal campaign on Colby College’s brand-new, below-grade low-temperature district energy system in Waterville, Maine. This network links multiple academic buildings to a high-efficiency central plant, designed to significantly cut campus carbon emissions for decades to come. Crucially, the system’s long-term performance is dependent on the piping being surgically clean from the very first day.
Our comprehensive scope of work included:
- Circulating over 120,000 gallons of treated water through more than a mile of pre-insulated steel mains.
- Employing high-velocity side-stream filtration to pull particulate matter down to 5 microns.
- Implementing real-time turbidity and conductivity tracking to verify system cleanliness targets.
- Performing desiccant dryingon select piping runs to eliminate residual moisture after flushing.
- Applying nitrogen blanketing to laid-up sections, preventing flash corrosion and allowing construction to phase in safely.
- Coordinating closely with the mechanical contractorto protect heat-exchanger plates and low-NOx boilers during the final tie-in.
A flawless flush is more than just a procedural box-check—it’s an essential step that safeguards pump seals, eliminates startup fouling, and preserves the system’s ultra-low ΔT (Delta T) performance curve. For Colby’s ambitious sustainability roadmap, this rigorous approach translates directly to:
- Lower pumping energy consumption.
- Longer equipment life.
- Measurable CO2 savings right out of the gate.
A big thanks to Johnson & Jordan Mechanical Contractors and Cianbro Contracting. Their field expertise was instrumental in the project’s success, particularly navigating the site’s unique below-grade constraints. We also appreciate our upstream chemical-treatment partner for keeping water quality precisely dialed in throughout Maine’s unpredictable spring weather.
Whether your project is a university campus, hospital, or district utility, we provide the rigs, sensors, and battle-tested procedures necessary to deliver a pipeline as clean as the day it was welded.
Drop us a DM or hit the contact form on digertt.com—let’s make your next start-up painless.
