Jeroen was given the responsibility to gain insight into the condition of WDOD’s pipes. This was the beginning of the collaboration with Acquaint, about which both parties are very enthusiastic. The core of a good cooperation according to Jeroen? You can read that in this article.
When Jeroen Ensink op Reimer joined Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta (WDOD) as a Civil Technical Specialist, he was given the responsibility of gaining insight into the condition of the pressurised pipes. After some research on how this could be done, he eventually scheduled an appointment with Rudy Dijkstra (CEO of Acquaint). This was the start of the collaboration between WDOD and Acquaint. Six months later, WDOD’s first pipe of asbestos cement material was inspected with Acquaint’s Acquarius.
Feeling heard, that is what Jeroen finds important during a cooperation. Of course, it is also important for the water board to know what the condition of the pipe network is.
“Ultimately, we want to know what the remaining life span is of each metre of the pipeline, and that is what Acquaint provides perfectly after an inspection.”
Jeroen Ensink op Reimer – Technical Specialist Projects at WDOD
The water board experiences the cooperation as pleasant and positive. The WDOD team knows exactly what needs to be done when the men from Acquaint show up at the water board. Now that both parties know exactly what they can expect from each other, the cooperation is even more efficient.
In total, WDOD’s network consists of 470 kilometres of pipes. Of these, approximately eight percent are made of asbestos cement, while the majority of pipes consist of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Acquaint has now inspected three of the water board’s pipes with its in-line inspection tool, the Acquarius. Two of these three pipes will be completely replaced after receiving the results of the inspections. The reason for this is that the data, obtained from the inspections, simply showed that the condition of the pipes was too poor everywhere.
In theory, the lifespan of these two pipes was estimated at 40 to 50 years. In practice, the pipes did indeed reach the 40-year mark, but their condition was too poor to allow them to reach the 50-year mark.
“If we had assumed the theoretical lifespan of the pipes, we would have been in for big surprises. That’s why we inspect our pipe network with Acquaint’s inspection technique.”
Jeroen Ensink op Reimer – Technical Specialist Projects at WDOD
Of the three pipes inspected, one was in decent condition. The water board will have this pipe inspected again in ten years’ time. In the meantime, WDOD is not standing still. Instead of one pipeline, they are aiming to have two pipelines inspected per year from next year onwards. This will enable them to assess the overall condition of the pipeline network even more quickly and to implement an appropriate replacement strategy.
