The downfall of the eyelet

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Back in 1999 you would be amazed by the patience and skills of our workers. With great eye for detail, they manually welded hundreds of PVC eyelets in the hem of the liners. Why?

The downfall of the eyelet

Because this was needed to connect the liner to the tank, using a piece of rope and hooks.

As this was very labour intensive, the PVC eyelets were replaced by stainless steel eyelets, saving time and energy. A semi-automated machine to place the eyelets in the liner was bought, ensuring a fast installation with high quality and consistency of the eyelets.

Pretty soon after this, the main liner material became ENPEX FPP. Although eyelets were ok to use, a new connection system was introduced: the Install+ system. By using a coloured band and ratchets in the liner, the customer benefits from a faster installation with great advantages:

  • In the past water was piling up in the ropes, coming down at the location of the hook. At this point you would always notice the first traces of rust.
  • As the horizontal connection is somewhat flexible, the liner is allowed to go up a bit when placed under stress. In this way neither the liner or the top of the tank will be damaged.

This is just one example of product innovation at the NPI. Our business started in 1957 so you might understand a whole lot of products have strongly developed the last decades. We strive to turn ideas into innovations that benefit customers, the environment and of course the longevity of our water storage systems!