Israeli firm brings green sewage pipes to European countries

The company, Huliot of Kibbutz Sde Nehemia, has begun marketing a type of pipe that is a first for the European sewage industry.

By SHARON UDASIN
Huliot's eco-friendly pipe 370 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Huliot's eco-friendly pipe 370
(photo credit: Courtesy)
An Israeli plumbing and drainage firm based in an Upper Galilee kibbutz has signed contracts in six European countries to install its environmentally friendly sewage and wastewater pipes, the firm announced this week.
The company, Huliot of Kibbutz Sde Nehemia, has begun marketing a type of pipe that is a first for the European sewage industry – an acoustic insulated pipe made from a unique plastic compound that does not pollute the environment, according to the firm. Officially recognized as an environmentally friendly product, the pipes recently received a green stamp of approval from the Israel Standards Institute.
The pipes operate particularly quietly and are meant to replace lead pipes in the ground that lack insulation, the company explained.
In addition to signing the six contracts in Europe, Huliot is currently holding discussions with a number of large construction companies in Israel seeking to purchase the equipment as part green construction projects, the company said.
Israeli building firms have become increasingly eager to make use of such products in their projects “in order to get extra coveted points to be defined as ‘green building,’” explained Ariel Apeloig, vice president for marketing at Huliot.
The reduced amount of noise of downward trickling wastewater associated with the new pipes will be particularly key to building residents, Apeloig stressed.
“We are very familiar with tenants living in apartments where the sewage pipe goes through the living room and sometimes even through the bedroom,” Apeloig said. “The tenants suffer serious distress as a result of this. The acoustic pipes blend with the environment and reduce the noise completely.”
Huliot expects that these pipes will quickly gain momentum with developers and building contractors in Israel, who risk facing lawsuits when apartment owners discover that the building’s waste pipe passes through their apartment, the company said. Even more importantly, however, the pipes can help “increase the scope of green building in Israel,” the firm stressed.
All in all, the Israeli plastic plumbing industry turns over an estimated NIS 500 million annually, and within that sum the sewage pipe market is estimated to bring about NIS 130m., according to the Tel Aviv and Central Israel Chamber of Commerce.
The entire Israeli plumbing and infrastructure market turns over a sum of approximately NIS 3 billion each year, the Chamber of Commerce said.