Products - November 2024

When every centimetre counts

Silent-Pro SuperTube

With Silent-Pro SuperTube, Geberit is introducing a new system for the drainage of apartment blocks. During the development phase, the engineers fought for every centimetre of extra space.

Innovative, efficient, space-saving: these keywords summarise the SuperTube technology in a nutshell. SuperTube guides the wastewater along the inner wall of the pipe in a ring flow. An air column remains in the centre, which makes additional ventilation lines superfluous and saves space. This technology was previously based on the Sovent moulded piece, an ingenious connecting piece for the downpipe that combines the drainage and ventilation functions.

Silent-Pro SuperTube in direct comparison with conventional systems at Geberit headquarters. (Copyright: Seraina Boner)

SuperTube now also highly sound-insulating
To date, this SuperTube technology has primarily been used in high-rise buildings. However, the tried-and-tested system is now also available for mid-rise apartment blocks - typically with five to eight storeys. The highly sound-insulating Geberit Silent-Pro piping system has been supplemented with three fittings for this purpose.

As the new system has to do without the relatively large Sovent for space reasons, the developers Rolf Weiss, a specialist in hydraulics, and his development partner Richard Kipfer, who specialises in industrial design and construction, had to develop an alternative connecting piece. After several prototypes, they found the solution: the so-called carve branch. “This allows us to direct the water from the horizontal pipes tangentially – that is sideways and at a certain angle - into the vertical downpipe.“ This creates the desired spiral flow and the air column remains stable.

More space, simplified planning
With the new moulded piece, the horizontal pipes can be laid closer together and thus save space. “We fought for every centimetre during development,“ says Richard Kipfer. The BottomTurn and Backflip bends familiar from the PE SuperTube system have also been adapted. These fittings enable horizontal pipes without a gradient of up to six metres. This saves additional valuable centimetres in the room height. Geberit Silent-Pro SuperTube thus simplifies planning, saves a significant amount of space and increases flexibility in the construction of apartment blocks.