The Sol Plaatje Municipality will be installing a 600 mm diameter steel pipe in Rhodes Avenue, Rhodesdene, on Wednesday afternoon.

Water supply will be interrupted from midday today (24/7) in the CBD and surrounding areas until approximately 22:00.

“Waterworks will replace a section of a leaking asbestos pipe with a 6 m long steel pipe aimed at averting the ongoing water losses in Rhodes Avenue,” said Sol Plaatje spokesperson, Thabo Mothibi.

The pipe being repaired today has been worked on since last Sunday (14/7), when the pipes burst and the municipality resorted to tightening the old cascade clamp instead of replacing it.

“Sol Plaatje Municipality’s Waterworks will replace a cascade clamp on 600 mm diameter pipeline located in Rhodes Avenue, Rhodesdene,” said Mothibi on Monday (15/7)

These asbestos pipes have been used for over 60 years, and in recent times the municipality has been faced with multiple pipe bursts and the need to change the pipes to a more sustainable pipe, such as steel pipes.

The burst pipe in Rhodes Avenue overflowing with clean water. Picture supplied

“A number of the internal or part of the reticulation system is made of a lot of asbestos pipes and that’s the reason for a number of the burst pipes that we’re having within residential areas,”

The municipality said during this financial year, they aim to implement and replace the asbestos pipes within the bulk pipeline with PVC plastic.

“We have about 70 km of asbestos pipes that we are going to target and make sure that we replace it completely within the entire network.”

OFM News/Casey-Lee Anthony dg