Burst pipes add to city’s water woes
Residents have been lobbing for infrastructure upgrades
IN THE midst of tireless water saving efforts, clean water is still being washed down the drain due to pipe bursts. The City receives over 700 water incident reports a day which include burst pipes such as the likes seen in Bonteheuwel on Saturday where Lepelhout Street turned into a makeshift swimming pool, much to the delight of local children. Bonteheuwel residents who reported the incident said that pipe bursts have become a regular occurrence in the area, with a similar “pool” forming in Uintjie Street in November.
Residents said they’ve been lobbying for water infrastructure upgrades for years but their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
Ebrahim Fourie speculated that the water infrastructure in the area hasn’t seen upgrades in the last 40 years and said many people in the area receive water bills of R20 000 because there are water leaks underground.
Shaheed Mahomed, a member of the Workers International Vanguard Party, said community members have lobbied in vain for upgraded infrastructure.
“The City is negligent, they’re letting the infrastructure go to the dogs. In Bonteheuwel and Langa there are lots of pipe bursts and lots of wastage. People have been fighting for upgrades to the system, but the City refuses,” said Mahomed.
Ward 50 councillor Angus McKenzie confirmed that the pipe burst occurred on Saturday and said that it was not the only rupture in Bonteheuwel over the weekend, as another burst occurred yesterday morning after piping was stolen.
Mayco member for Informal Settlements, Water and Waste Services councillor Xanthea Limberg said that water bursts are taken seriously and that the City’s focus is preventative maintenance which has reduced the burst rate from 63.9 bursts per 100km to below 30 bursts per 100km. Limberg stated that the pooling of water in Bonteheuwel was caused by a blocked stormwater drain and said that sometimes what looks like a massive leak is smaller in terms of actual water loss.