Plumbing Africa March 2018 | Page 63

ASSOCIATIONS << Continued from page 59 on capital expenditure for their irrigation,” says David Rossouw, managing director of OKE. However, the company also confirms that they have seen a dramatic increase in demand for HDPE100 pipe, typically used for boreholes. “While business has dramatically slowed down for LDPE irrigation pipe, we have seen a 100% growth for larger dimension pipes used for transporting water over longer distances,” he says. “Many of our customers are involved in initiatives to supply water to communities and water augmentation projects. We have seen a huge growth in this area and are working around the clock to keep up with the demand for pipes used in water augmentation schemes and to keep delays to a minimum,” Rossouw adds. “Intensive planning has already taken place to allow for the scale (and cost) of new and upgraded infrastructure, as well as a number of projects to avert the drought situation. These include desalination plants, groundwater extraction, and treated effluent reuse,” Smit