Investigation into the Modes of Failure and the Causes of Failure of Water Pipeline Materials for Water Supply Schemes: Case of the Central Coastal Area of Namibia

The problem of aging water pipes manifesting leaks and breaks provides extra burdens on the shoulders of the business and community in terms of high costs of repair, replacement and water loss. Proactive pipeline management may become a possible solution as it entails timely maintenance, repair, and renovation, thus increasing the service life of pipes. That is why a general knowledge of the properties and the state of deterioration of a water main network is needed to understand the mechanisms contributing to water pipe failure. There are various materials for piping infrastructure that are now available on the market. The old pre-stressed concrete pipes and asbestos-cement (AC) pipes employed at the coast of Namibia have reached the end of their useful life. These pipes are now being replaced by the Ductile Cast Iron (DCI) pipes, the Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipes, and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. This applied research will assess the performance of pipes made of different materials, establish the modes and the causes of failure of pipes. Research design will rely on descriptive analysis and physical analysis. Descriptive analysis will organise and summarise the inventory, condition, break data and break patterns for pipes and systems and physical analysis will use physical methods such as laboratory and field tests to summarise condition, break performance, break causes for pipes and systems. Research intends to model performance of pipes and predict the behaviour of pipes in the future thus helping the industry in developing rehabilitation or replacement strategy for existing pipe networks with a view for better management of the pipe assets.