Lynnfield Park’s 11-day no-water ordeal

Lynnfield Park residents who endured 11 days without water last week shared how they were frustrated to breaking point and on the verge of going crazy.

The worst part, residents said, is that no one knew what the problem was and could offer no updates or estimated time of repairs.

“It was terrible. We were ready to march to the City Hall,” said Frans Bezuidenhout. “After 11 days with small kids, it got really horrible. We had to beg, borrow and steal water containers and await water tankers that only arrived when everyone was at work.

“We travelled to family and friends’ houses in town just to have a bath and fill our water buckets. Every day, the municipal workers would tell us the water would be on at 7pm. That continued for 12 days,” said Bezuidenhout, who lives with his wife, daughter and his five-year-old and six-month-old grandsons.

“It’s a 17km trip into town and we had to make multiple extra trips just to bath daily. The most embarrassing experience was asking my employer if I could fill buckets of water to take home,” Bezuidenhout said.

Bezuidenhout said water pressure is a constant issue in the area.

“Even though our water is restored now, the area still struggles with constant low water pressure due to the aged infrastructure that has never been maintained.

“Lynnfield Park is treated like an offramp to the city. No one cares about Lynnfield.”

Describing the 11-day water outage as a “human rights crisis”, deputy chairperson for the Ashburton and Lynnfield Park Ratepayers and Residents Association Edith Dennison said it was a nightmare.

“The problem is these pipes are so old. There are huge leaks everywhere and it took so long to locate this one. We were with the contractors on site and it was terrible. Even now we’re holding our thumbs; it’s touch and go.”

Lynnfield resident Louis Somers is also still cautiously optimistic.

“We’re still on guard, trying to save as much water as we can, just in case,” said Somers, adding that his family survived by doing multiple trips to his in-laws in Hayfields to bath.

“It’s hard to explain what we went through to people who haven’t experienced it. We had to re-wear clothes and hope for the best. And the issue of not being able to flush toilets; it creates tension in the household because everyone is irritated and frustrated.”

Lynnfield Park ward councillor Sandy Lyne, stressed it was an impossible situation for even the water department workers who struggled to locate the pipe.

“The plumbers had an impossible task, because it was a nightmare to locate the leak. We have never experienced such a prolonged water outage in the area before. These pipes are so old; they should have been replaced years ago. It’s just another example of the lack of resources, staff and money,”

Lyne said, adding that this issue is caused by a lack of budget and planning.

“8% of the budget should be dedicated to maintenance of infrastructure; instead only 1% is allocated.”