Editor’s Note: Duromar is a specialist in industrial coatings, with a focus on water infrastructure projects. Most recently, Duromar launched SpectraLine, a line of UV-cured, composite repair products for emergency industrial repairs. Duromar president Daniel Toft offers his insights on Duromar’s growth over the year, as well as his outlook for its future.

CW: What is the history behind Duromar?

Daniel Toft: Since 1968, Duromar has been involved in solving erosion, corrosion and process control problems with high-performance/engineered coatings and linings technologies. Duromar’s unique advantage is that most of our products are 100% solids, zero VOC, non-toxic polymeric materials. That means safer for the applicator and the environment.

Our business focuses on two avenues:

• Project-based linings, where a specification is developed specifically for the project.

• MRO repair products, which are emergency maintenance and repair products sold in kits that can sit on the shelf at the facility. These products are used to repair, resurface and rebuild degraded substrates that are exposed to severe corrosive and abrasive environments. 

CW: What are the key markets that Duromar serves?

Daniel Toft: Our solutions are trusted in heavy industrial processing facilities and industries, including chemical processing; food and beverage; agricultural; metals and mining; power; pulp and paper; water and wastewater treatment; marine and shipping; oil, gas and petrochemical; renewable energy; solid fuel; and thermal.

CW: What differentiates Duromar from its competitors?

Daniel Toft: Our products are 100% solids, solvent-free materials that are inherently much safer for the user, applicator, and installer than conventional solvent-borne materials. Additionally, these materials contain zero volatile organic compounds and are much less toxic to the environment than traditional products that are photochemically active.

CW: Is Duromar enjoying good growth in its markets?

Daniel Toft: Yes! Since 2015, Duromar has seen widespread, prolific use of its products in the hydroelectric and pumped storage markets. In approximately 10 years, Duromar has had more of these large-scale projects than in the previous 40 years combined.

CW: What are some of the most critical attributes for coatings for water infrastructure?

Daniel Toft: Regardless of market, process, or location, it is a universally accepted concept that decreasing downtime and increasing the return-to-service speed for a particular project is beneficial. This is arguably more important in water infrastructure than any other industry, as water is essential to every living thing.

When fresh water and irrigation districts need to overhaul their assets, this is a carefully planned and executed event, often involving many statewide and even regional governmental agencies to approve the temporary reduction in supply. In some cases, this even requires water transmission companies to “borrow” water from neighboring infrastructure while assets are being overhauled.

These situations are critical and can add stress to the entire system. Providing products that reduce the downtime during these outage events, both in individual project length, but also in increased longevity and reliability for the asset overall, is not just a major cost savings, it is essential to life itself.

CW: Are there any recent advances, such as your new UL-certified products, that you would like to highlight?

Daniel Toft: The recent successful completion of Duromar’s testing to NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 and 600 standards is a testament to Duromar’s commitment to safe, cutting-edge products that offer rapid return to service times, while being easy to install.

Additionally, we are very excited to launch SpectraLine, a line of UV-cured, composite repair products for emergency industrial repairs. These products begin curing instantly when exposed to UV light, making them a great choice for emergency leaks. SpectraLine includes a patch, wrap, ceramic paste and putty. It is user-friendly (one-component, no mixing, ready to use), offering immediate return to service with a cure times under five minutes. It provides a permanent repair that is chemical and abrasion resistant and even cures underwater. It can be machined, drilled, tapped, sanded or painted right away.

CW: Is there anything that you would like to add?

Daniel Toft: We are so lucky that we get to supply safe and reliable technologies to the people who make the world civilized. The unsung heroes are the contractors, engineers, technicians, tradesmen, and operators who go to work every day to keep things running smoothly for the rest of us. We’re proud to be part of that story…