AC secondary water
mains replacement
Ambitious programme
a first in South Africa
eThekwini Municipality has embarked on a major
project to replace the aged Asbestos Concrete (AC)
secondary water reticulation mains within the
metropolitan municipal area.
eThekwini has embarked on an ambitious
programme of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction
– the first in South Africa. Munitech is in the second
year of a three year appointment to reduce NonRevenue Water in the northern operational area of
the eThekwini Metropolitan Area (Durban).
Munitech’s intervention programme in the northern area is
benchmarked against the Best International Practice and closely
follows the International Water Association’s Water Loss Task
Force methodology.
Project Engineer, Cindy Wells, reports: “eThekwini faces an
upward trend in Non-Revenue Water, as their system both ages
and expands. A multi-faceted approach to the reduction of
NRW has been adopted in support of an ambitious target of
20% Non-Revenue Water, halving current overall NRW levels.
“This project will reduce costs incurred as a result of burst pipes,
which have been causing damage to roads, properties and
pavements,” says Mohammed Vawda, SBA’s Project Director.
“High water losses associated with these leaks and pipe bursts
will also be significantly reduced.”
SBA is involved with the investigation, design and construction
monitoring of the AC water mains replacement programme, mainly
in the northern areas, as well as some western areas of eThekwini.
Icon Construction has been appointed contractors for the northern
areas, while WBHO Construction is the appointed contractor for
the western areas.
This project entails the replacement of the old un-dipped bitumen
AC mains with new mPVC mains, re-connection of the existing
consumer connections to the new mains, installation of new
isolating valves and fire hydrants and decommissioning of the old
AC mains. The scope of work also includes hydraulic analysis of
networks that will determine the optimum size of replacement
pipes and pressure zoning required to reduce high pressure in
the networks to more reasonable levels.
Areas in which investigations and designs have been carried out
by SBA, and where construction is currently in progress, include
Phoenix, KwaMashu, Ntuzuma, Sea Cow Lake, Effingham, Durban
North and parts of Westville. Investigations and designs are also
in progress in the Virginia, Sunningdale and Umhlanga areas.
SBA has mobilised a highly qualified and experienced design and
site monitoring team for the implementation of this project. Key
team members include Mohammed Vawda - Project Director, Gary
Quilling - Project Manager, Karun Naicker - Lead Design Engineer
and Neran Sukhlal as site manager.
“The project is being implemented using a novel NEC3 targeted
cost contract approach. It also supports social development
through the use of local labour and resources, supporting local
SMMEs, developing skills and implementing the Contractor
Development Programme.”
Project completion is scheduled for 2010 with 20 000 new jobs
having been created, as well as numerous business opportunities
for emerging construction contractors.
Email Mohammed Vawda:
[email protected]
Billing Verification Inspectors, Sanele Ndlovu and Musa Sibiya,
inspect a consumer meter as part of the Apparent Loss Reduction
Programme.
“The northern operational area includes the high water loss
areas of Ntuzuma and Inanda. These areas exhibit most of the
challenges faced by NRW interventions, with both high real
and apparent losses. We are able to deploy all of the NRW
reduction initiatives, such as pressure management, leak
detection and billing improvement in Ntuzuma and Inanda,”
says Cindy. “GIS is used extensively throughout the NRW
programme as a tool to process data, report and to assist
engineers in the application of suitable NRW mechanisms to
ensure maximum benefit.
“NRW cannot be reduced by desktop analysis alone,” continues
Cindy. “Real value is achieved in the field work, measuring flows
and pressure, logging, documenting and inspecting for billing
errors or omissions. These are vital activities to the programme
and success lies in the efficacy of our field teams. Technical
teams probe networks and billing inspectors verifying exceptions
found in the eThekwini billing system. Munitech also has access )Ѽ