Supplied by Megapipes Solutions
Megapipes Solutions has introduced a new range of manholes for the Kenyan market, purposefully designed for more efficient construction.
The new range of manholes, based on the Weholite HDPE technology, will be manufactured at the company’s newly completed Ruiru plant. The products are designed to meet the construction sector’s growing demand for efficient water and sewerage infrastructure materials.
Megapipes Solutions Country Director Megapipes Simon Thomas says that developers and contractors are looking for construction products that will enable them to deliver projects on target with minimal disruption to the local community and the environment.
“Weholite manholes will revolutionise the construction sector in Kenya. They allow clients to remove weeks from programme delivery times. The lightweight nature of the material enables these manholes to be installed much faster than traditional alternatives such as concrete. Weholite manholes can also be customised to meet a project’s specification which increases reliability,” says Thomas.
Thomas adds that efficiency in building is becoming one of the biggest factors to consider during construction due to disruptions in global supply chains and the rallying prices of construction materials across the board, factors that are negatively affecting delivery.
“Today developers and contractors want to complete projects within the shortest time possible. The unprecedented price increases in construction materials are adversely affecting budgets and result is either redesigning projects or scaling down. In both cases this is undesirable. However, by offering a solution with a 100-year service life, which is extremely low maintenance and is 100% watertight, we are adding value to each and every project over the lifecycle.”
Thomas added that another advantage for the Weholite systems is their resistance to hydrogen sulphide, a corrosive gaseous by-product of the waste that flows through sewage pipelines. Hydrogen Sulphide attacks concrete pipes and manholes which results in damage and failure, in severe cases replacement can occur in 5-10 years.
Weholite manholes are watertight, unlike concrete systems, which often leak and allow ingress, damage that disrupts sewerage settlement and separation, causing strain on municipal treatment plants.
Megapipes Solutions also announced that it will be introducing many other chamber products for water management purposes. For example, flow control, valve, flow meter and backwash chambers; wet wells, soakaways and duct pits to name but a few.
Weholite manholes and chambers are also manufactured under factory conditions which is critical in ensuring high quality. The systems are designed to have a 100-year service life.
Megapipes Solutions has already installed Weholite sewer manholes in Narok when the county was installing its first drainage system in 2020. Each manhole was installed, connected and backfilled in a two-hour time window, far quicker than their concrete equivalents.
Megapipes Solutions
• Megapipes Solutions aims to make sustainability a passion throughout Kenya and East Africa. By leading the conversation around Africa’s stormwater and sanitation solution. Megapipes Solutions delivers sustainable stormwater and sanitation solutions through innovative products and services to ensure a safer and healthier world for generations to come. Long term impact on the local economy through job creation, and stormwater and sanitation management solutions to promote public safety and improve quality of life are at the fore at Megapipes Solutions’ efforts.
• Megapipes Solutions is part of the Plasco group and operates a world class manufacturing facility at Oaklands in Ruiru, Kiambu, the most modern factory of its kind in the world.
• Weholite exploits an advanced technology polyethylene material and is used primarily in water infrastructure projects across Africa and the United Kingdom. It is recognised as a lightweight, durable, easy to install and abrasion-resistant product tolerant of ground movements.
