THE INNOVATORS
Returning Control: Carlos Guerra of Hose Solutions, Inc. For many families, farmers, businesses, and municipalities throughout the country, a connection to sources of groundwater is essential to ensuring a reliable source of drinking water. Traditionally, a tap would be drilled hundreds of feet to the aquifer and lined with pipe installed in increments. Although this method of tapping into groundwater still works well, installing pipe in confined areas is difficult, and problems associated with corrosion and scaling can arise. Hose Solutions, Inc., has sought to address some of the challenges many groundwater users face on a day-to-day basis. Tyler Young, a writer for Irrigation Leader, spoke with Carlos Guerra, territory manager for Hose Solutions, about the company’s Boreline Flexible Drop Pipe solution. By offering customers across the nation a custom product that is easy to install and is resistant to corrosion and scaling, Hose Solutions hopes to make groundwater more accessible and to return the control of wells to their owners. Tyler Young: Please tell us how you got your start with Hose Solutions. Carlos Guerra: I started working for Hose Solutions almost 5 years ago. I found the opportunity online, and when I interviewed for the job, I learned that the company had an innovative technology that I felt could make for a decent career, and it has.
Carlos Guerra: The company started in Europe in the 1800s, and the factory in Cape Town, South Africa, started producing fire hoses 50 years ago. From there, it has developed more advanced products, such as lay-flat hoses for fuel, hoses for snow making, and high-pressure mine dewatering hoses.
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Drop Pipe is one of the smaller pieces of the puzzle when it comes to pumping water out of the ground and into water treatment facilities for consumption. Before Boreline, traditional steel drop pipe offered zero benefits, so depending on the depth and gallons per minute you were trying to pump out, you had to use steel, polypipe, or PVC pipe. Tyler Young: What sets Boreline Flexible Drop Pipe apart from traditional pipe options? Carlos Guerra: You get many benefits with Boreline. For example, during installation, users can go from putting 20-foot pieces of steel in the ground at a time to being able to install a single piece of Boreline at once. With respect to removal, for a 1,000-foot well with traditional pipe, you would have to pull out the 50 20-foot pieces of steel pipe one at a time until all 1,000 feet were removed. With Boreline, you can pull as high as your boom can lift. If you have a boom truck that can pull 37 feet or a crane that can pull 200 feet, that is the length of hose you can pull out at one time. Another benefit is the ability to install Boreline over a rolling wheel. You simply attach one end of the pipe to a truck and drive it into the IRRIGATION LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLOS GUERRA.
Tyler Young: Would you tell us about Hose Solutions and some of the problems it hopes to address?
Pump and Boreline being lifted into position.
