Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Water supply restored

Staff Reporter

Water supplied by Corporation in more than 40 locations

REPAIR WORK: A worker of the KWA waits for help to repair a pipeline that burst at Karakulam on Tuesday. — Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water supply to areas serviced by the Observatory Hill reservoir of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) which was disrupted early on Tuesday was restored at 10 p.m.

The supply of water was disrupted when a 1,200 mm pre-stressed concrete pipeline ferrying water from Aruvikkara to the reservoir burst at Karakulam.

The five-metre section of the ruptured line was cut away and replaced with a section of cast iron pipeline. Gravity flow in the repaired line was started at 9 p.m. and after it became clear that there were no leaks in the repaired portion, full pumping was started.

This is the third time in a year that this `pumping main' water line has burst. The pumping main, laid in 1996, is made of PSC pipe sections till the Peroorkada reservoir. From there, water is pumped to the reservoir at the Observatory Hill using a cast iron line. According to KWA sources, the low quality of material used for making the PSC line could have led to its bursting.

"The intensity of the bursts has increased. The first time this line cracked, it was only a small section of the line that came off. This time round, nearly one-fourth of a five-metre section of the line burst," a KWA engineer said here on Tuesday.

Once a PSC line bursts, hairline cracks form at different portions along its length. When one portion of the line is repaired and pumping begins, these cracks gradually develop into full-blown bursts.

The City Corporation on Tuesday supplied water in tankers to more than 40 locations.

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