In a period of four days, eight significant water leaks occurred in Edenvale resulting in the loss of countless litres of water.
Five of the leaks occurred on Second Street alone, starting on the morning of November 1.
The following three days saw several leaks appear as the municipality attempted to remediate the situation.
Ward 18 Clr Heather Hart said what made the situation appear worse was that to some community members it appeared that the municipality did not attend to the leaks quick enough.
However, she said this was not the case.
“The depot responsible for Edenvale also works in Bedfordview, Boksburg North and parts of Germiston,” said Hart.
“The team from the depot attended to the burst lines the best it could taking into consideration the resources it has at hand.”
When the NEWS visited Second Street, five worksites could be seen along Second Street where work had been done.
At some of the sites the NEWS looked at, new piping and clamps were installed to stop the leaking water.
At two of the worksites pieces of broken pipes were seen around the holes which were dug.
Hart said at several of the sites, municipal workers were attempting to repair the pipes while water was running out of them.
“The municipal team had closed the valves, but because there was still water in the pipes it was flowing out.”
“At some locations, workers were repairing pipes while pumping water out of the holes.”
She highlighted that the damaged pipes were not quick fixes.
Because most of the leaks occurred in the evening or early hours of the morning, Hart believes that two primary factors contributed to the sudden increase in leaks.
The fist factor Hart identified was the age of the pipes. She said the pipes were old asbestos pipes.
“My other theory is that the leaks occurred because Rand Water has throttled the flow of water in Edenvale.
“At night water pressure builds up in the pipe as people use less of it and the water bursts through the weak points of the pipe.”
She said it was unlikely that the bursts were caused by the installation of fibre.
Because of the lack of water across SA, Hart urged community members to report water leaks as soon as possible.
Burst pipes and other municipal matters can be reported to the City of Ekurhuleni by:
• Phoning – 0860 543 000 or the Edenvale Customer Care Centre on 011 999 2900.
• Emailing – call.centre@ekurhuleni.gov.za
• Using the My Ekurhuleni App available on the Google Play and Apple stores.
A request for comment was sent to CoE and Rand Water on November 6 at 1.30pm requesting comment by November 8 at 1pm.
At the time of going to print no comment was received.
