Pipeline programme: Budgets, bursts and maintenance

GEORGE NEWS - Pipe bursts are unfortunately a common occurrence, and this is hardly surprising considering that there are 920km of pipelines in the George municipal area.

Failures can be ascribed to a number of causes, including pressure changes in the network, pipe degradation in ageing materials, changes in soil conditions, manufacturing defects and poor installation.

Once the water network is disturbed, pressure changes can expose further weak areas in the pipe network and create a cascade of failures, which are unpredictable.

An analysis of the George water pipe network is updated annually, and end-of-life pipelines are identified, formalised and presented in a Pipeline Replacement Programme.

Apart from the network analysis, George Municipality keeps data on pipe bursts, prioritising ongoing maintenance and replacement work based on existing data of pipe bursts, the Pipeline Replacement Programme and the available budget.

Budget constraints

Because technologies and materials are constantly changing, some of the pipes in the historic water supply network do not correspond to current pipe diameters. This requires special fittings in the event of pipeline failures. Due to logistical and budget constraints, it is not possible to simply replace the George Municipality's entire water pipe network.

The estimated cost to replace the identified priority (immediate replacement) pipelines is R181 642 000 and the estimated cost to replace ageing pipelines (number of years left in terms of design specifications) is R500 000 000 over a 20-year period.

In the previous financial year, the municipality has spent R62 832 964 (Water Distribution Capital Expenditure 2022/23) on replacing water pipelines, stabilising the water distribution and supply network, and ensuring service delivery for the citizens of George.

Service requests

The municipal civil engineering services department deals with an average of 400 service requests per week ranging from pipe bursts and mainline leaks to no water. From 22 September to 25 September this year, 70 cases of priority work (pipe bursts, mainline leaks and no water) were attended to.

The incidents were exacerbated by the storm surges that severely damaged the water and sewer infrastructure in Herold's Bay, resulting in repairs of over R1m (excluding road, generator and retaining wall repairs). Teams spent 13 days including after-hours and weekends working to restore water/water pressure to the area.

A major bulk supply pipeline supplying water to the Kraaibosch and Groenkloof areas failed in September and repairs were complicated by the pipeline being constructed from GRP (glass reinforced plastics), which require fittings that the municipality does not keep in stock. Water was restored completely within two days.

George Municipality relies on citizens to alert them when there are problems with the water supply, and thank those citizens who provided information and insight into the problems that were experienced.