Water leaks blamed on vandalism, old infrastructure
Principals of top users blame vandalism, old infrastructure
LEAKS as a result of deteriorating infrastructure and vandalism have landed 25 schools on the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s list of water wasters. Principals have attributed the wastage to leaks due to vandalism and poor maintenance, while some have blamed both the municipality and the Department of Education’s inability to assist timeously.
The schools were identified two weeks ago after a visit by municipal officials to Churchill Dam.
The metro had announced that water wasters would have their supply cut, but head of infrastructure and engineering Annette Lovemore said this was an impossible measure to apply as schools required a constant water supply.
A visit to at least 10 schools last week revealed that along with pupils leaving taps running, schools are also faced with taps that do not work, stolen water pipes and old plumbing systems.
Grey High is listed as the school which uses the most water, with each of its 880 pupils consuming an average 367l daily.
Grey rector Neil Crawford said he understood why this was the case.
“We are the only boarding school in the city. I have 150 boarders and we have a laundry that runs 24/7,” he said.
“At our aquatics centre, we have three swimming pools we have to keep up and running for festivals and tournaments.”
The school has boreholes which it uses to water sports fields.
“We do use a lot of water but we have been very conscious of talking to the pupils about saving water,” he said.
Crawford said leaks continued to be a problem at the school, with an underground leak at one of their fields having recently been brought under control. Grey Junior was also listed, at No 14. Seventh Day Adventist Primary School in New Brighton, which has 480 pupils, has an average monthly consumption of 2 183 kilolitres.
Deputy principal Phathiswa Hendrik said the Bantu Church of Christ across the road was responsible as it used the school premises at weekends and for some services at Christmas and Easter.
“We do not have any leaks but the church holds camps where thousands of people use the premises – that is the only explanation,” Hendrik said.
However, Andile Matinise, of the Bantu Church of Christ, denied the claims.
“We only use the premises during weekends. How can it be possible that using the school’s facilities twice a week could be responsible for using water excessively in comparison to the school that uses the water five days a week?”
Matinise also denied that services over Christmas and Easter might have affected the school’s consumption.
Motherwell’s Douglas Mbopa High principal, Fudumele Bottomani, said the caretaker was often kept busy by leaks.
“Our toilets were put in in 1988 and are in a horrific state. This causes leaks but our caretaker always manages to at least have the situation under control.” The school also has faulty taps. Bottomani said their infrastructure maintenance budget was insufficient.
“We have about 1 300 pupils and this budget is not just for maintenance as it also includes textbooks and stationery.”
Principals from schools listed among the water wasters have said the maintenance budget, which amounted to R170 000 a school – dependent on pupil numbers – in the last financial year, was not enough to fix water leaks too.
Limekhaya High principal Lamile Faltein said the expected budget increase would also not be enough.
The school, which was third on the list, fixed its plumbing system last year, but noticed a leak two weeks ago.
“The school was built in the 1980s and we had just recently got our system fixed. We were surprised when we noticed a leak as the system has only been up and running for almost 12 months now.
“If we have to fix underground pipes, the maintenance budget is not enough.
“We also suspect the municipality reads our meter wrong . . . even after the pipes were fixed, we were billed up to R40 000,” Faltein said.
Education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima insisted the budget was enough and urged principals to use it wisely.