Water Board Launches Repairs on Gandipet Conduit to Eliminate Decade-Long Leakages

Hyderabad: The historic Gandipet conduit, which has been plagued by leakage issues for the past ten years, is set to receive a permanent solution. The Water Board is preparing to tackle the persistent leakages and has initiated repair work on the conduit. Managing Director Ashok Reddy inspected the repair activities on Friday.

For the last decade, significant leakages have been reported in areas including Gandipet, Kokapet, Manikonda, CBI Kalashala, Puppalaguda, Janaki Nagar, Kausar Colony, and the MES campus. However, if repairs are undertaken, there will be a disruption in water supply for about a month. Consequently, the work has been postponed to avoid inconveniencing the public. To prevent any disruption in water supply, the authorities have explored repair technologies and, ultimately, a Chennai-based company has proposed using German technology to address the leakages without halting the water supply.

Recently, experimental repairs were successfully conducted through grouting over a 10-meter stretch of the conduit at the Asif Nagar filter bed, completed within 40 days. Following this success, Ashok Reddy has instructed officials to complete the remaining repairs in other areas.

If a water shutdown occurs, it could cause inconvenience to consumers. Therefore, keeping their needs in mind, the authorities are implementing repairs using a chemical treatment method. Initially, water in the leakage area is drained using special equipment, followed by the injection of a special chemical into the area. This chemical quickly solidifies and fills the voids, effectively stopping the leakage. This method allows for repairs to be carried out without interrupting the water supply.

The Gandipet conduit has a total capacity to supply drinking water to the city, measuring 26 million gallons per day (MGD). Currently, it supplies about 20 MGD, with approximately 8 MGD of water being wasted due to leakages. As a result, only about 12 MGD reaches consumers. The leakage issue has been identified across approximately 45 locations over a span of 14.5 kilometers. In light of this, Managing Director Ashok Reddy has instructed officials to ensure that repairs are completed without impacting the water supply. Once these repairs are finalized, an additional 14 MGD of water could be supplied to consumers.

Water is supplied from Gandipet to the city solely through gravity, incurring no costs. After purification at the filter bed, water is supplied to consumers. This reservoir was constructed in 1920 by the then-Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, to meet the drinking water needs of Hyderabad’s residents. The Water Board supplies drinking water to consumers through the O&M Division Numbers 4, 5, and 6.