Maitland River pipe leak problem being addressed – metro
THE DA in Nelson Mandela Bay has lashed out at the city’s water department, saying a complaint about a major leak on the supply line at the Maitland River lagoon had been ignored.
The leak, which was first reported two weeks ago, is gushing out thousands of litres every day, according to DA caucus spokesman councillor Dean Biddulph.
Nelson Mandela Bay is battling with a water crisis, with officials considering imposing restrictions.
Biddulph said that on revisiting the site this week to check on progress made with repairs, they found an even worse situation.
“Upon our arrival . . . we were shocked to discover that, instead of having been repaired and rehabilitated, the massive leak had in fact become worse with an additional leak now apparent on top of the pipe.”
He estimated Port Elizabeth was conservatively losing in excess of one million litres a day from the leak. Since it was first reported, about 50 megalitres had been lost.
Municipal spokesman Roland Williams said previously the problem would be repaired by last Friday.
Yesterday, he said the repairs were carried out, but engineers discovered a problem with one of the valves on the pipeline, which had to be replaced.
“To conduct the repair work, the [municipality’s] water and sanitation team had to shut down the system. This meant the water supply to the reservoirs had to be cut, resulting in the reservoirs running low.
“Replacing the valve would have meant the system would have had to continue to be shut down, and water supply to the reservoirs continue to be halted.
“This would have resulted in the reservoirs running completely dry – [they were] at 13% at the end of last week – and residents and businesses would have had no water this week.
“The [municipality’s] water and sanitation team then made a judgment call and, despite the leak, restored the water supply to the reservoirs so that residents would have water over this period. Continuing to shut down the system would have meant no water.”
He said the dysfunctional valve would be repaired once there was enough water in the reservoirs.
Repairs would be carried out over the next two weeks, Williams said.