preview

Problems Associated With Pipe Breaks

Better Essays
Open Document

The problems associated with pipe breaks are economic, reduce reliability and reduce water quality. The cost of replacing or repairing a pipe can be split into capital costs (supplying and laying the new pipe), maintenance costs (repairing and preventing failure in the system), operating costs (electricity and filtering costs) and damage costs (property damage, inconvenience, loss of amenity, health risks and environmental costs). (Dandy & Engelhardt, 2001) All of these costs can be difficult to accurately predict, which may be necessary when consulting with management about whether or not to replace a pipe. Pipe bursts in commercial areas and along main roads also have higher failure costs as the interruption the failure will have on the traffic and potential 3rd party damage will be greater. A rational decision needs to be made into at what point it is more cost effective to replace the pipe than letting water run out of the cracks. The cost of a repair = crew+ equipment+ sleeve + repaving + overhead costs. Figure 2- Cost breakdown of repairing pipes (in US dollars) While the above figure gives a rough estimate of what each portion of the repair will cost, the variables were calculated in 1982 in America, and protocols may have changed since then, or be different in New Zealand than it was in America at the time of the study. However, this was the only literature available that considered breaking down the cost of repair. Figure 3- Repair and Replacement Costs

Get Access
Related
Get Access