Renovation of 60-year-old Sewer System in Szombathely, HU

When the 60-year-old sewer system of the Hungarian city of Szombathely had to be replaced due to corrosion, the project team immediately opted for HOBAS. 300 m GRP Pipes DN 550 to DN 900 and 11 GRP shafts were successfully installed despite challenging project conditions. Szombathely is the administrative centre of Vas county in the West of Hungary, close to the Austrian border. It is one of the oldest cities in Hungary and has grown to become the country’s 10th largest city. In 2015, Szombathely was granted EU funding for rehabilitating the old concrete sewer system, which showed serious damages by corrosion after more than 60 years in operation. The regional water company Vasivíz Zrt and the municipality of Vas County decided to replace the concrete pipeline with a safe and reliable system, featuring also a long lifetime. HOBAS was well known to the company, since they had already cooperated for the construction of a GRP potable water tank in 2010 and were very satisfied with the installation, project support, and smooth operation of the tank. Therefore, Vasivíz Zrt ordered almost 300 m HOBAS GRP Pipes in diameters from DN 550 to DN 900 as well as 11 GRP shafts for the construction of a new sewer line. The installation was quite challenging for a number of reasons. The construction site was in Rohonci street, one of the busiest roads in Szombathely. The contractor therefore needed the pipes to be supplied just-in-time in specific time periods. Furthermore, all works had to be stopped in August due to the famous Savaria carnival. The construction was split into three sections and started in July 2015. All works were successfully finished in November 2015 and Szombathely’s citizens can now rely on their safe new sewer system.