The Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, is dedicated to helping solve water problems throughout the world. Recognizing water as such a valuable resource, projects are focused on water efficiency, conservation, system management, water quality, and treatment for water supplies and waste water to help solve existing or developing problems.

The UWRL utilizes gravity flow and pumped flow to bring water into the facility through galvanized pipes. The main facility has a gravity flow capacity of over 100,000 gallons per minute, and the new facility has a pumped capacity of over 50,000 gallons per minute. These capacities allow for scale model testing on the likely performance of a particular design of a dam or spillway without incurring the full expense of the prototype. The current model at the new Hydraulics laboratory is the Success Dam Emergency Spillway (California), which is 1/20th the size of the actual dam. 

Data is being collected and analyzed to assess the feasibility of increasing the water storage of the reservoir by raising the dam. Hot-dip galvanized pipes provide water from the river and to the model. The University chose to utilize HDG because of its durability and because both the interior and exterior of the pipes could be treated against corrosion in one step. Additionally, the University desired piping that would eliminate costly and inconvenient routine coating maintenance. A portion of the pipe was 42 in diameter, making the feasibility of disassembling for maintenance an unviable option. Because the interior of the pipe is continuously submersed in water that will never completely drain, the application of HDG in the harsh, ever-wet environment will ensure the pipe remain corrosion free.