Three million euros for the new Burcei aqueduct. Today, Abbanoa Board of Directors Chairman Giuseppe Sardu, accompanied by officials and technicians from the Authority, and Burcei Mayor Simone Monni, presented the new bypass pipeline that will supply the town by bypassing the old, now collapsed aqueduct.
The construction project involves the first three kilometers of the pipeline from the Corongiu water treatment plant, in the Sinnai area, to the Burcei reservoir. This means a farewell to disruptions : in recent months, the town had experienced several periods of water service interruptions. Abbanoa, which took over management of the Burcei water service less than two years ago, immediately implemented a special plan to ensure its new customers finally receive a renewed service. "For our company, this was a priority," explains President Giuseppe Sardu. "We immediately continued work to ensure emergency service, and at the same time, our technicians began a major investment to address the root cause of the problem."
"For the town," says Mayor Simone Monni, "this is a major achievement, a long-awaited intervention to resolve a problem that has always caused significant inconvenience. The municipal administration, together with Abbanoa, believed in this project, working closely together through meetings in Cagliari and Burcei. The work will be completed within ninety days on the first three kilometers of the network, where major water leaks have occurred in the past. No critical issues have been identified on the remaining six kilometers at this time."
The total cost of the ongoing project is €2,930,000 and is divided into the following phases: €650,000 for the optimization of the pumping system at the Corongiu and Perdaxeddu plants and for the construction of the bypass line for the first section of the aqueduct. This work has already been completed, and the system optimization and automation are currently being completed. Furthermore, € 1.9 million is earmarked for the functional restoration of a section of the aqueduct through hose-lining rehabilitation. This work was completed last week and has just begun. Finally, another €380,000 is earmarked for the renovation of the manholes and special pieces along the line related to the previous project. This work is currently underway.
The project. Abbanoa's Distribution technicians have prepared a remediation project that faces a dual challenge: on the one hand, the urgent need to find a solution quickly, and on the other, the difficulties of crossing particularly rugged terrain. The overall connection is over 9 kilometers long, interspersed with two pumping stations to overcome a height difference of almost 400 meters from the Corongiu water treatment plant in the Sinnai area to the Burcei municipal reservoir.
Work in progress. Over the course of the year, the first section of the aqueduct, approximately 3 kilometers long, presented numerous critical issues, with frequent breakages requiring the Operator's teams to undertake numerous interventions. Meanwhile, a detailed study was initiated by technicians from the Abbanoa Distribution Sector, which highlighted the most critical points where corrosion and high pressures had caused the majority of the breakages. This led to the decision to proceed with a special relining technique, which is affecting 3 km of pipelines, including the reconstruction of manholes and special pieces along the line. Bypasses are being installed approximately one kilometer apart, ensuring water supply even during the work in progress. The empty pipeline is being repaired using a special sheath made of ultra-resistant material, Mil Eurokevlar, which adheres to the internal walls of the pipes and repairs them from the inside.
Given the current emergency, Abbanoa has given these interventions top priority. Studies and safety measures for the current pipeline have already been completed. The overall investment of nearly 3 million euros is financed with tariff funds and included in the 2024–2029 Intervention Plan. The ongoing work is in line with the schedule announced during the public meeting held last July in Burcei, which was followed by a meeting at the Prefecture. At those meetings, the Company committed to taking all necessary steps to quickly resolve the issue, including the rehabilitation of the most compromised section of the pipeline, as well as implementing network subdivision measures (necessary for more efficient management and to reduce water losses) and an extensive leak detection campaign, which will reduce the town's overall demand.