Municipal pipe replacement projects could help relieve local water pressures

South Africa is in the throes of its worst drought in decades, with the South African Weather Service announcing last month that 2015 was the driest year on record since 1904. To combat this, government has implemented water restrictions in Gauteng, Cape Town and parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

However, Industrial Water Cooling (IWC) CEO Roger Rusch argues that these restrictions will not be effective enough to tackle the current water crisis facing South Africa. Municipalities need to urgently replace old steel and asbestos cement pipes with suitable, maintenance-free reinforced plastic pipes, he believes.

“What is shocking is that, in our water-scarce country, millions of litres of water are being wasted every day, owing to leaks in ageing municipal pipe infrastructure. With the National Treasury estimating that South Africa’s water demand will outstrip supply by 2030, municipalities . . . need to act immediately . . .” he states.

Department of Water and Environmental Affairs data from 132 municipalities, representing 75% of the total volume of municipal water supply, shows that municipal water losses in 2013 totalled 36.7% of water used, of which 25.4% was attributed to leakages, amounting to an estimated R7.2-billion a year loss to the economy.

Figures released in early 2013 for Gauteng’s 2011/12 financial year are just as alarming, showing that Gauteng municipalities collectively lost 480 980 000 kℓ of water, enough to fill the Hartbeespoort dam 2.5 times, amounting to R7.84-billion in financial losses.

“The majority of South Africa’s municipal water pipes were installed in the 1960s, using steel or asbestos cement piping. The problem with steel and asbestos . . . is that they corrode over time,” Rusch points out, adding that corrosion is the primary cause of pipe leakages.

In 2010, the eThekwini municipality became the first municipality in South Africa to embark on a massive pipe replacement project. The R1.6-billion project was completed in 2013, resulting in more than 1 600 km of asbestos cement pipes having been replaced with modified polyvinyl chloride (mPVC) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic pipes.

“Municipalities need to follow eThekwini municipality’s example or . . . risk daily pipe bursts, followed by catastrophic component failure and regular and prolonged disruptions in service delivery. This is already happening in parts of the country,” Rusch declares.

He says glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) pipes offer significant benefits in demanding applications, such as underground water supply systems. GRP pipes are lightweight, easy to handle and join, available in a range of sizes and pressure ratings, and have low frictional resistance, with hydraulic properties that remain virtually unchanged over their life span of 50 to 100 years, resulting in low pumping costs.

“Another major benefit of GRP pipes is that, once installed, they are virtually maintenance- free and do not corrode, unlike steel or asbestos cement pipes. GRP pipes are also stronger than mPVC and HDPE equivalents,” Rusch concludes.