Part of the problems at the Nandoni dam included the failed pipeline which needed to be re-installed. It was noted that at the inception of the project, the original plans were to use steel pipes, however this changed to the glass reinforced pipes (GRP's) at the advice of engineers within the Department. The Department had however reported challenges in respect of the GRPs provided by one service provider for the distribution of water. These challenges led to a design change from GRP's to back to the initially intended steel pipes. The Department was undertaking legal action to recover money lost in this regard. It was also looking at the possibility of invoking the liability clause which formed part of its agreement with the service provider. The Committee was also informed that there were other countries that had used the same suppliers and were experiencing similar problems in respect of the quality of pipes supplied. The Committee sought to determine whether the problems in respect of the pipes emanated from the factory process or from the design of the pipes. The Department reported that the problem was identified to be at the manufacturing stage. This was only discovered once the pipelines had been laid and were being pressure tested by the Contractor (Chief Directorate: Construction Management). A review by a panel of experts indicated problems with manufacturing quality of the supplied pipe product and inadequate quality control and assurance by the supplier that together resulted in the delivery of pipes with deficient structural and hydrostatic integrity of the pipe wall. Some manufacturing defects identified were of the type that could not be detected even at the factory without detailed testing (e. g. ultrasonic testing), which was part of the Supplier's quality control program. Other defects (e.g. resin starved areas, porosity and damaged pipe ends), however, were also manifested on the exterior of some pipes awaiting installation and these should have been corrected or culled by the supplier. These could have been identified by the engineer, contractor and the supplier's Representative through inspections upon delivery as called for by the specification.