Residents between 1st and 5th streets complained about low water pressure and not having water at all recently.
Clr Carlos da Rocha, from ward 66, said he also received complaints about a pipe at the corner of 1st Street and Berea Road that continues to burst.
He said pipes in the area burst quite often.
“The last time there was a burst pipe, JW had to come back three times in one week with an excavator because the pipe kept bursting. There is wasteful and fruitless expenditure on a grand scale taking place if one has to add the costs of an excavator being deployed three times in just one week and the cost of restoring the road. In order to save money, it seems it would be cheaper to lay a new pipe in that section so that this kind of wastage does not happen again,” said Clr Da Rocha.
Ms Millicent Kabwe, the manager of marketing and communication at JW, said the entity has logged the queries for the depot to attend.
The turnaround time to attend to a burst pipe is 48 hours. Low water pressure needs a thorough investigation.
“A burst pipes can affect the street it feeds and hence there is sometimes a ‘no water’ situation that is purely as a result of a burst pipe. The water pressure in the city is consistent, unless the technical team is working on pressure reducing valves (PRVs).
Ms Kabwe said JW has initiated a number of projects to reduce water demand. This includes pipe replacement, improvement of leak repairs, metering of all consumers and the servicing of PRVs.
About 560 PRVs are installed throughout the JW water supply system.
These PRVs are used to regulate pressure in the water network to minimise burst pipes, to reduce leakage and to extend the working life of the pipe network.
“Water leakage is driven primarily by pressure and in this regard, it is essential that all PRVs are working and set correctly. Over the years, a number of PRVs have become dysfunctional, which resulted in excessive pressures in many parts of the water network.
“JW started an initiative with the aim of servicing PRVs. The project will be undertaken over the next 24 months across the city. The pressure settings will be based on the JW Guidelines and Standards, which states the minimum static pressure should be 2.0 bars (20m),” said Ms Kabwe.
According to Ms Kabwe, residents are informed prior to the maintenance work.
Consumers experiencing significant pressure problems after servicing of the PRVs can contact their nearest depot, or log calls to the call centre.
