Durban – Umgeni Water said on Monday that the most crucial repairs to Aqueduct 3, which was expected to result in intermittent or low pressure in Durban South areas, had been completed.
Last week, The Mercury reported that Umgeni Water would be shutting down Aqueduct 3 from Thursday, July 7, until Wednesday, July 13 to conduct essential repairs.
Umgeni Water said that it would start commissioning Aqueduct 3 to test its ability to contain water. This is the start-up process in which a pipe is prepared to go “live” in order to test its ability to contain its inflow without leaking.
“On Monday morning, Umgeni Water began gradually releasing water from Nagle Dam into the concrete-steel Aqueduct 3. The release will be closely monitored along the route of the pipe to ensure there is no water loss through leaks.”
Umgeni Water added that the underground pipe had to be exposed to get to the leak.
“Work was done from inside the pipe to repair the leak and was completed on Sunday afternoon. A crack in the area where the concrete and steel sections are joined and held together by mechanical seals had caused the leak. The process of drying the pipe was completed overnight on Sunday before the commissioning began. The remaining work, including restoring earthworks, will be completed in the days ahead.”
It said that Aqueduct 3 was one of four high-pressure pipes that transport large volumes of water from Nagle Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant to supply the south, north, central and inner west areas of Durban.
“Two of these aqueducts – 1 and 2 – were damaged in the floods of April 2022 and remain decommissioned.”