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Mom Waterworks construction is underway on the roads, but I wonder what kind of construction it is? |
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Droplet It's construction to replace old water pipes with new ones. Actually, this construction work is one of the earthquake disaster countermeasures for waterworks. |
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Dad Earthquake disaster countermeasures for waterworks...it makes me curious what kind of efforts are underway, since tap water is vital for life. |
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Drippy I know what you mean. Let me tell you about the earthquake disaster countermeasures that the Bureau of Waterworks is implementing in making every effort to deliver water to the customer even in the event of an earthquake! |
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Drippy At the Bureau of Waterworks we are taking a variety of disaster measures aiming at minimization of damages in the water supply system in case of any earthquake disaster and at maximization of securement of water supply service. |
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Dad I see that you are engaged in a range of activities, but how is replacing the water pipes one of the measures to prepare for an earthquake? |
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Droplet The replacement pipes that we are installing underground are called “Earthquake resistant joint pipes,”which are built so that the water pipe joints do not break or separate even if they are drastically shaken in the event of an earthquake. |
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Drippy Rest assured. When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, there were some areas that were drastically shaken by the earthquake. While areas that did not have earthquake-resistant joint pipes suffered water outage, areas with earthquake-resistant pipes had no outages! |
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Mom Seismic joint pipes are truly amazing! What kind of plan is underway to promote replacing conventional water pipes with seismic joint pipes? |
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Droplet The length of the water pipes in Tokyo is about 27,500 km—more than half the circumference of the Earth! More than a third of these have already been replaced with earthquake resistant joint pipes. And about 5,000 km more will be replaced over the next ten years! |
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Drippy We are working to strengthen the backup functions by strengthening and duplicating the network of water pipelines so that water can be delivered on different routes in the event that the usual water supply routes cannot be used because of an earthquake disaster. |
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Grandma It’s a relief to know that there are a variety of routes, isn’t it! |
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Droplet Exactly. And since we have been covering construction at the site with respect to earthquake disaster measures for the water supply, please have a look at the following column, |
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At the Bureau of Waterworks, we are vigorously promoting replacement with "joint pipes" as a measure against earthquake disasters, as they did not sustain damage in any location during the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster. In addition, we are promoting the development of a "Tama Hills Main Line" using seismic joint pipes with a diameter of 1.5 meters to advance the wide-area networking of water pipes. The entire pipeline is scheduled to be completed at the end of FY2014, and then begin full-scale operations. We are also promoting the development of a Tama North-South Main Line slated for completion in FY2018, which will supply water using pipes that are 2.0 meters in diameter, running from the Higashimurayama Purification Plant, which is a major Tokyo metropolitan large-scale purification plant. Through these preparations, the stability of the water supply will be greatly improved for about 1.7 million customers. |
Much of the waterworks construction will involve roadwork, which in turn may cause inconveniences to those in the neighborhood. In light of this fact, we are making every effort to minimize the impact of the construction, by introducing low-noise/low-vibration construction machinery and the like.
We will also continue to work toward raising awareness among customers about the waterworks construction, such as by installing |
construction signage that can be readily understood, and we appreciate your cooperation.
