Calgary, AB (September 7, 2005) — Edmonton plumber and gasfitter Gabe Coscarella revolutionized the plumbing industry with his invention, a valve that is installed in the main sewer line of a home, commercial building or industrial facility to prevent sewer backup and flood damage.

Edmonton-based Mainline Backflow Products Inc.'s patented Fullport Backwater Valve has eliminated the need to install several sewer line valves in one building. Its innovative design protects the entire dwelling or facility with one reliable, cost-efficient and self-cleaning valve.

Coscarella, President of Mainline Backflow Products, has won this year's prestigious $10,000 Manning Innovation Award, sponsored by Falconbridge Limited, for his innovation, now being used to protect thousands of homes, offices and other buildings across North America.

Coscarella got the idea for his valve while working as a plumbing contractor for the City of Edmonton and repairing sewer backups, seeing first-hand the damage to a home that can occur.

At the time, Canada's national plumbing code allowed only the branch lines of a building's sewer system to be protected with backwater valves, because of the need to have air flowing through the system to the municipal sewer line. These multiple small valves can become clogged and damaged.

Mainline's valve, which is normally open in the installed position on the main sewer line, allows for the required air circulation. The valve's unique venting properties enabled Coscarella and Mainline to get the National Plumbing Code of Canada changed in 1998, to allow one protective valve on a building's main line. "There's no need to protect any of the sewer branch lines anymore. One valve protects the entire building," Coscarella says.

Plumbing contractor Jetco Mechanical of Edmonton has installed more than 8,000 of Mainline's valves in homes, says Steve Stewart, Jetco's general manager. "It certainly has simplified basement plumbing. Of the 8,000 we've put in, I don't know of any that we've had to go back in and replace."

Mainline's valve has flow channels that direct the flow of sewage through it, which helps keep the valve clean. A gate, hinged on the bottom of the valve, is normally kept open by gravity. This gate is fitted with tiny, water-impervious floats. When the sewer starts to back up, water rises in the body of the valve and the gate starts to float or lift, being pushed by the flow of water into the closed position.

The valve has a built-in main sewer cleanout, allowing cleaning sewer augers or 'snakes' to easily pass over the open gate and be retracted without damaging the gate or other components. The rugged, injection-molded valve also has a transparent lid for visual inspection.

There are now more than 130,000 Mainline Fullport Backwater Valves installed in North America, Coscarella says. "Our valve goes into about 95 per cent of the new homes in western Canada."

Mainline, which contracts the valve manufacture to another Edmonton firm, assembles and ships valves and other products from its Edmonton facility. The company, with sales agents across Canada and in the U.S., sold more than 40,000 valves last year and is expecting further sales growth this year.

Since 1982, the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation's annual program (www.manningawards.ca) has rewarded leading Canadian innovators with $3.5 million in prize money. This year's four major winners, being announced throughout September, will share a total of $145,000. All will be honoured at the annual gala awards dinner Sept. 30 in Winnipeg.