UPDATE (Jan. 18, 2023) :

It's not practical, in any way (eg., time, money, electrical restrictions, environmental restrictions, safety, etc.), to use a laser paint removal system to remove paint (and/or rust) from a water tower.

Please see my new article (Jan. 18, 2023): It's not practical (time, money, safety, etc.) to use a laser paint removal system to remove paint (and/or rust) from a water tower

Original article (July 23, 2016) :

I climb, sandblasting and paint (and stick welding once in a while) waters towers, standpipes and ground storage tanks. Duties sometimes include rigging and derigging containments.

A containment consists of large tarps (100ft) which are tied together vertically (and often horizontally depending on the height of the tower) to form an enormous curtain.

The curtain surrounds the water tower and shields the surrounding environment from being contaminated by potentially hazardous lead paint and blasting abrasives.

There's a significant amount of setup time and labor ($) involved when rigging (and derigging after the job is complete) a containment.

A containment includes, though is not limited to, the following parts and entails conducting the following tasks:

         1.     Hundreds of cables and clamps which need to be connected together and hauled up to the top of the water tower

         2.     More than several markedly heavy containment outriggers (arms which resemble steel I-beams) which need to be pulled by rope to the very top of the tower

         3.     Several heavy and bulky 100ft tarps which need to be rolled out, tied together

         4.     Large pile of 10ft pipes and 1ft brackets (pipe tees) which need to be bolted together to form a sizable and circular shaped rod to hang the containment curtain from

         5.     A not insubstantial amount of stick welding, cutting (torch), time, muscle and elbow grease

         6.     A powerful and relatively massive sized winch to raise and lower the curtain at least a few times each day. With the engine and housing this piece of equipment is approximately 10ft in length... it's nothing like you might see attached to the front of a pickup truck

Moreover, the assembly and disassembly of the containment can be dangerous and invariably mistakes seem to be made during both processes.

Serious equipment failures and dangerous human errors which I've witnessed include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) clamps on the winch cable slip and containment falls to the ground... (2) Containment arms (which resemble steel I-beams) fall to the ground.

Complications of the containment and the costs in time and labor involved in it's setup are just the first stage or step in the sandblasting procedure.

Sandblasting a water tower is an exhausting, distinctly crude and back-breaking job. A sandblasting hose is heavy, bulky and sand or other abrasives are traveling at extremely high speeds through and out of the hose. Protective hoods (with clean air supplied by a smaller hose) must be worn as well as other protective gear (e.g., heavy clothing, gloves and hearing protection).

Work is conducted at heights (typical water tower = 125ft - 150ft) and workers are suspended from ropes, cables, pulleys, block and tackle systems, bosun's chairs, cable chairs, swing stages and other equipment as they climb around the water tower with heavy sandblasting hoses.

Furthermore, blasting work which in conducted inside the water tower's tank may be performed on ladder booms which are controlled by two sets of what are known as a double block and falls (perhaps also known as a 'block and tackle system'). Some work can also be conducted under the ladder boom with a bosun's chair which is controlled with what is known as a single block and falls.

At the end of a work day (or even just after an hour into work) a worker will be covered in sandblasting abrasives (e.g., sand), dust and paint particles. Tugging around a live sandblasting hose and aiming it at different angles as a worker constantly repositions and moves up, down and around the water tower is tiring and physically exhaustive work.

Observation:
My observation is that new alternatives to sandblasting water towers should be explored.

As seen in the picture above (at the outset of this article) lasers can be used to remove paint from steel structures. Some of the benefits and advantages include:

a.     Simple setup and no need for containment

b.     Doesn't require sand or other media... there's no dust, no chemicals and no clean up

c.     Laser gun can be used to completely remove paint, coatings, oxides, oils and other mediums... all this in a one step process

d.     Laser beam is delivered to hand-held gun by a flexible fiber optic cable which I've ascertained to be available in at least 150ft lengths (applicable to water towers)

e.     The compact laser system can be easily transported by vehicle to nearly any location or job site

f.     Environmentally friendly - there is no waste or byproduct - no pollution

g.     There's no consumable media (e.g., sand) to purchase, store, handle or dispose

h.     Extremely low operating cost

To learn more about laser paint removal systems and how to start using this technology on the job site please click the button directly below:

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