City’s new answer to blockages
A NEWLY acquired pneumatic vacuum truck will make easy work of blocked drains at rented houses under the City.
Mayco member for human settlements, Malusi Booi, was on site to launch the new “jet vac”, as it is affectionately known.
This jet vac truck, which cost about R2.7 million, aims to improve the response times for clearing sewer and stormwater blockages that have been reported by the City’s rental housing tenants.
“With the arrival of winter, the jet vac is gearing up for a busy season, as it’s common to receive service requests for the clearing of sewer and stormwater pipeline blockages at the City’s rental housing complexes,” Booi said
According to Booi, about 250 blockages are reported monthly.
“We’re committed to improving service delivery to our residents and this jet vac is one example of our words and budget in action to ensure faster turnaround times in attending to blockages,” he said.
“Also, in the long run this truck will alleviate the load on our water and sanitation department, which also has to respond to other reports across the city.”
Booi said that the truck would save the City money, as the City would no longer depend on contractors to get the job done.
“Before the City’s public housing department invested in its own jet vac, officials had to manually use rods, or follow a time-consuming process of procuring the services of a contractor via tender, or wait for the assistance of the water and sanitation department,” he said. |