Irrigation Association New Product Winners

SAN ANTONIO -- A tool that quickly disassembles glued PVC pipe, a fertigation injector powered by water flow and a direct burial splice kit are winners of the 2006 Irrigation Association New Product Contest.

Come Unglued, a pipe debonding device by Debonding Systems Inc. won in the turf/landscape category. Metafix Inc.'s TF-25 Proportional injector won in the agriculture category and Paige Electric's DB14-4 Direct Burial Splice Kit won for golf.

The winners were announced Monday at the 27th International Irrigation Show.

Judges said the debonding device, Come Unglued, is an innovative and practical tool that could save labor and material. The produce breaks the original cement bond of a broken pipe by heating the pipe to the exact temperature needed to remove it from a fitting while leaving the fitting cool and undamaged.

The Metafix water-to-water injector was praised for its simple but innovative design, which judges identified as portable, easy to use and easy to maintain. The injector requires no energy other than what it obtains from water flow. Users can hook the injector to a computer system to electronically regulate the flow of fertilizer or other liquids in irrigation.

The judges liked the simplicity and potential for cost savings associated with Paige's splice kit. The kit provides a connector assembly for splicing wires in underground installations, including irrigation systems wires and cables and low voltage lighting cables.

The New Product Contest, in its fifth year, has grown each year. The contest includes products introduced to the market in the last year.