Joburg Water infrastructure renewal project watertight
HURST HILL – The programme will ensure that the number of bursts and blockages per kilometre is reduced.
The R17.3 million water pipe replacement project at Hurst Hill in Brixton is well underway and almost at completion stage.
This was revealed by the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Nico de Jager during a briefing on the progress of the project on 15 August. De Jager said that the three-phase project was part of Joburg Water’s efforts to ensure continuity and improved service delivery.
“The rolling out of the pipe replacement programme will ensure that the number of bursts per kilometre and the number of blockages per kilometre is reduced, resulting in improved levels of service to consumers in the City,” said De Jager.
De Jager revealed that the water and sewer network infrastructure pipes with a remaining useful life of less than two years would be replaced at a cost of R2.8 billion. Meanwhile, the City experiences a water infrastructure and maintenance backlog amounting to about R12 billion.
The managing director at Joburg Water, Ntshavheni Mukwevho said that most of the problematic infrastructure is found in old suburbs and townships across the City. While the entity was granted a capital budget of about R950 million for the current financial year, Mukwevho said 70 per cent of the budget would be utilised for refurbishing and renewal of ageing infrastructure.
“In the 2018/19 budget we took a strategic focus on refurbishing and renewing old infrastructure. We are prioritising areas with a high number of burst pipes to maintain and improve service delivery,” said Mukwevho.
During the previous financial year, there were 42 977 reported burst pipes and 61 928 sewer blockages, a decline from 43 301 burst pipes and 62 835 sewer blockages in the 2017/18 financial year. “This is attributed to improved pressure management and an accelerated pipe replacement programme,” said De Jager.
De Jager said it is projected that on average the water pipe replacement per annum should amount to R415 million for water and R435 million for sewer. “Going forward, Joburg Water will invest more on the pipe replacement programmes,” added de Jager.
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