TPV Waterstop for Secondary Containment

Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop is used as a fluid-tight diaphragm, embedded in concrete, across and along the joint, for primary and secondary containment structures. Earth Shield® Chemical Resistant Waterstops are resistant to a wide range of oils, solvents, and aggressive chemicals. Alcohol, ketones, glycols, esters, and aqueous solutions of acids, salts, and bases have little effect on Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop.

Unlike polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waterstop, Earth Shield® waterstop contains no plasticizer, stabilizer, or filler to leech out when exposed to chemicals, fuels, and aggressive industrial fluids. Also, unlike PVC waterstop, Earth Shield® can withstand prolonged exposure to high and low temperatures (-78°F to 275°F long term) without detrimental effect.

Earth Shield® TPV Waterstop is NSF Standard 61 Certified for use in drinking water and is made of a recyclable polymer, so it is good for health and the environment.

The superior chemical resistance of Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop is enhanced by the use of a ribbed centerbulb configuration, which is available in a 4, 6, and 9-inch width. This provides for greater mechanical bonding with the concrete and a barrier against migration of liquid flow around the waterstop. The ribbed centerbulb style also allows for joint movement and may be used in above or below grade applications. Additional shapes are available for retrofit, extreme expansion, stainless steel and base seal applications. 

Different varieties and grades of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are commercially available. On the low-end there is thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), which has a rubber phase that is not cross-linked. On the high-end there is thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV)... Earth Shield® has chosen a fully cross-linked TPV as our standard elastomer compound, which provides superior mechanical properties, retention, and chemical resistance. In fact, when compared side-by-side, no competitive product is even close to achieving the physical properties of Earth Shield®

Ribbed Centerbulb Waterstop

Earth Shield® Waterstop part no. JP636

Ribbed centerbulb is the most versatile type of waterstop available. The centerbulb accommodates lateral, transverse, and shear movement. Ribbed centerbulb can be used in expansion, construction, and control joints. Ribbed centerbulb waterstops provide superior anchoring abilities and a long fluid-flow path because of the multiple ribs on the exterior flanges. Under stress, the multiple ribs will distort less than a dumbbell type waterstop. This is because the stress is first applied to the inward-most anchoring rib, and decreases to the subsequent ribs. The centerbulb allows for joint movement beyond the ultimate elongation of the material (530%), without causing distortion to anchoring ribs. All of our ribbed centerbulb waterstops are manufactured with a large outer diameter centerbulb. This centerbulb, coupled with the outstanding mechanical properties of our proprietary TPV elastomer (ultimate elongation, tensile strength, etc.), provides for unsurpassed joint movement and sealing abilities. Like all our thermoplastic vulcanizate waterstops, Earth Shield® ribbed centerbulb waterstop can be heat-welded using a standard waterstop splicing iron. This allows for easy field fabrications, and allows the waterstop to function as a continuous, homogeneous, fluid-tight diaphragm. Waterstop change of directions can be purchased along with straight roll stock, and custom, fit-to-print waterstop modules are produced to order. Prefabricated ells, tees, tank pads, column fittings, and many others are in stock and ready to ship.

Waterstop in 3-D

A waterstop envelope as seen in 3-D.

Waterstop Splicing Irons Part List

Click here or on the below pictures to be taken to our Waterstop Tools section of our website.

A small JP214 Waterstop Splicing Iron

A large JP414 Waterstop Splicing Iron

Earth Shield® Waterstop JP621L and JP211 Circular Column Joint in Concrete

Part No. JP211

Part No. JP621L

An Introduction to Waterstop

For the complete presentation, please visit HERE.


The first waterstops used in construction were comprised of strips of lead or copper. In the early 1900s the preferred waterstop material shifted to vulcanized rubbers such as neoprene or styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). While rubber waterstops had excellent mechanical properties (high tensile strength and great elongation) they had one major weakness: they were extremely difficult to field fabricate as the rubber was vulcanized, meaning it had already taken a “set” (thermoset) and could not be heat welded together like the metals used previously.


In 1926, a new plastic compound was invented by Waldo Semon of the B. F. Goodrich Company: plasticized PVC. Semon was attempting to dehydrohalogenate (non-plasticized) PVC in a solution of boiling solvent in order to to create an unsaturated polymer that would be useful for bonding rubber to metal. The results of Semon’s experiment was the creation of a thermoplastic with properties very similar to rubber.  
It took many years for plasticized PVC to find suitable commercial applications, and was first used as a waterstop material in the early 1950s. Back then, the material was properlylabeled as fPVC or flexible PVC. 

The first wide-scale test of any waterstop was performed in 1954 by the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Canada. The results of this test are still used by many manufacturers as a benchmark, and other than some new polymers, waterstop has not really changed that much since then. 

For the complete presentation, please visit HERE.


Chemical Resistant Waterstop Trench Modules

Earth Shield® Waterstop manufactures complete drop-in-place trench modules for the petrochemical industry. Learn more HERE.

New Products Coming in 2018

The Importance of NSF 61 in Waterstops

NSF/ANSI Standard 61 was developed to establish minimum requirements for the chemical contaminants and impurities that are indirectly imparted to drinking water from products, components, and materials used in drinking water systems.

Standard 61 is intended to cover specific materials or products that come into contact with drinking water, drinking water treatment chemicals, or both. The focus of Standard 61 is evaluation of contaminants or impurities imparted indirectly to drinking water.

In the U.S., 47 of 50 states have legislation that requires compliance with NSF/ANSI Standard 61. Products that are NSF Certified against NSF/ANSI Standard 61 demonstrate compliance with both Canadian and U.S. Plumbing Codes. NSF Certification and Testing is widely accepted. NSF data is recognized by ASSE, BOCA, IAPMO, ICBO-ES, SBCCI, City of Los Angeles and many others.

Water is arguably the most valuable resource in the world. Today’s water treatment, distribution, and storage projects are under ever-increasing layers of regulations and requirements, one of the foremost being that components and materials that contact potable water not have potential adverse human effects.

Earth Shield® TPV Waterstop, with NSF 61 certification, is the perfect choice for today’s critical water projects, and in particular drinking water projects.

The Importance of Water

Life as we know it is unsustainable without water. Water is so essential for life that civilizations have risen and collapsed, due to their capacity, or lack thereof, to harvest a continual supply of water.

Without question, water along with oxygen is our most precious resource, and great care must be taken to protect it. Governments around the world have recognized this fact and have crafted byzantine codifications mandating protection protocols, treatment programs, and storage and distribution regulatory requirements.

The most predominant problems facing the world in regards to water are:
 Quantity — Only 2.5% of the earth’s water is freshwater, and much of it is inaccessible as it is frozen in icecaps or glaciers, or in the ground.
 Quality — According to the United Nations, by the year 2025, 50% of the world’s population will be facing a daily struggle to find enough water to meet their basic needs.

Water is essential for human life.

While quantity effects many nations, quality is primarily a problem of the developing world. Modern water treatment systems throughout the developed world have eradicated most deadly pathogens, and thankfully your nightly news is not filled with stories of outbreaks of cholera or typhoid.
Because water is such a finite resource, and so basic to our survival, we must take every possible precaution in safeguarding it throughout its entire lifecycle: extraction, treatment, storage, distribution, and process.

Concrete is the preferred building material used in regards to water structures. Whether it’s a megalithic concrete dam, holding back tens of millions of gallons of water, or pretreatment and treatment units at your municipal water treatment plant, you will see that it’s made of concrete. Concrete is a great building material for water structures, as it is can be made fluid-proof and strong; has a very long lifecycle; and is relatively easy to manufacture and install almost anywhere in the world. On the downside, concrete can not be truly functional without the addition of joints, and joints will leak unless adequate provisions are made to fluid-proof them. This is the sole function of waterstop: to prevent the passage of fluids through concrete joints.