In the 1960’s Bill founded Iplex Plastic Industries in Adelaide, South Australia, which was underpinned by developing PVC pipe into domestic plumbing systems. While it was a difficult task to change entrenched attitudes on traditional plumbing, Bill’s determination was able to turn negative perceptions about PVC to positive. As a result Iplex grew to be a great company and changed the way domestic plumbing systems were accepted and became the household word for a whole new generation on products and skills relative to plumbing systems.

In the 1970’s Bill’s vision saw the benefit of drip irrigation as a new and innovative way to irrigate a great variety of crops. Drip irrigation had the benefit of using 50% of the water that would be used by conventional irrigation, and at the same time increase crop yields. Even though these benefits were obvious it was still a hard task to change attitudes, but with sheer determination Bill was able to lead the charge to where drip irrigation found its true mark, and many crops today could not be grown without the efficiencies drip irrigation offers.

Bill was recognised for his contribution to the plastic pipe industry when he was awarded the Order of the British Empire and later the Order of Australia, which are significant accolades and recognise a significant contribution that was made to the plastic pipe industry.

Bill has applied his talents to inventing spirally wound plastic pipe via Rib Loc Group Ltd, a public listed company which was founded by Bill. These pipes have applications for storm drain and culvert and are sold in 30 countries worldwide.

A significant development is to adapt the spirally wound concept as a method to repair below ground sewer pipes and the like, where the spiral winding machine sits at the base of a manhole and the liner is wound directly into the failed pipe. This has been highly successful and is gaining rapid market acceptance for larger diameter pipes. Stainless steel bands are incorporated into the design creating a high performance liner in these larger diameters, sometimes up to two metres in diameter.

This product was recognised by the ISTT in 1998 when Bill received the ISTT award for the most significant advance in the field of Trenchless technology for 1998. Bill was able to personally receive the award in Lausanne Switzerland.

Rib Loc continues to innovate and further develop the original spirally wound concepts and a new generation of liners are about to emerge, which is another step forward on what is currently being produced.

All of this work is underpinned by Bill’s vision to be No. 1 in the field, and he has the talent and determination to achieve that result.

Article by Shaun Melville
Rib Loc Australia

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