OREANDA-NEWS. August 21, 2007. OAO Novosibirskgorteploenergo completed summer testing of the city heating mains for tightness and durability, covering the heating pipelines of all TPP of Novosibirsk. As always, the testing was carried out upon completion of the summer maintenance campaign. In the course of testing, specialists once again checked the pipelines for mechanical resistance and hydraulic tightness before the forthcoming heating season. The testing has revealed 204 defects of the pipelines, which is close to the result of the previous year (224 defects in 2006). Up to date, 103 defects have already been fixed.

The last to undergo over-pressure testing were the heating mains of the central part of the city, which are supplied with electricity from the TPP-2. The majority of consumers of this district will get hot water on Sunday (August 19). The rest will be supplied with hot water during the next week. A group of consumers in the Kalininsky and Dzerzhinsky Districts getting electricity supply from the TPP-4 are currently disconnected, as the TPP-4 is undergoing scheduled repair; the deadline for hot water delivery is August 25. In total, 825 residential buildings are disconnected in these two zones, and 931 buildings—in the city on the whole. The consumers will get hot water as the defects of the heating mains revealed during the testing are eliminated.

The testing was complicated by an incident in 9 Lezhena St. In the course of testing of a 1000-mm heating main, a line rupture was detected in this sector resulting in flooding of the flats. This was caused by application of the over-pressure testing technique as being the only reliable and officially permitted method to check the pipelines for resistance thus far. The specialists of Novosibirskgorteploenergo are making every effort to minimize the consequences of the line ruptures, and to prevent similar incidents.

The summer testing introduced the final stage of preparation of the Novosibirsk heat supply system for the new heating season, which normally starts in mid-September.