Thiruvananthapuram: More than 2,000 families in parts of the city are set to benefit from a project to replace ageing and damaged water pipelines, some of which are around 50 years old. The project is likely to cover Thirumala, Thrikannapuram, Karamana and PTP Nagar, where a rising population and growing demand for water have put additional pressure on the ageing network.An engineer with the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) said the old pipelines are increasingly prone to bursting when pressure rises, leading to interruptions in water supply. Residents have to wait until the damaged sections are located and repaired before normal water supply can resume.“Many of the pipelines are around 50 years old. With the increase in population, the demand for water has also increased, creating pressure on the old pipelines and leading to bursts,” the engineer said.The replacement project is expected to make the water distribution network more reliable and reduce disruptions caused by recurring pipeline bursts. Replacing old pipelines, instead of repeatedly repairing vulnerable stretches, is expected to give households in the project areas a more dependable network.The work will also include building new valve chambers along the Thirumala–Thrikannapuram road. These will allow KWA to regulate water flow and pressure in the pipeline network according to demand.“With the replacement of the pipelines and construction of valve chambers, the flow of water to households will be more effective. The chambers will help control the pressure and flow according to demand,” the engineer said.The valve chambers will also allow officials to control sections of the network when maintenance or repairs are required. This could help limit the impact of a pipeline problem to a particular section rather than affecting a larger area, depending on the network configuration.The project comes as several parts of the city have seen rapid residential development and an increase in demand for water. According to the engineer, the pressure created by the higher demand is particularly problematic for older pipelines, increasing the risk of bursts and interruptions.The project is therefore expected to address two issues at once: Replacing vulnerable sections of the ageing network and providing better control over water flow and pressure. The immediate beneficiaries will be households that depend on the water network in the identified areas.
