The Ekurhuleni metro is closely monitoring the low water pressure experienced at Village Walk Retirement Village in Brentwood Park.
Over 280 elderly residents have been affected for over four months, according to the manager of the retirement village, Isabella Carstens.
She explained that they have experienced low water pressure and daily water cuts between 06:00 and 16:30.
“Our residents are unhappy with the constant water cuts during peak hours, which limit them on the chores that they had planned on doing.
“We do occasionally provide water tanks but not all our elderly residents can walk out and collect the water. Our biggest concern is the damage to geysers that residents would have to repair at their own cost due to the water cuts.”
Zweli Dlamini, the spokesperson of the metro, said the metro has installed and connected two additional 10 000 litre tanks to augment the current tanks that were there.
“Existing storage tanks were positioned on top of the building, creating a challenge in that when the pressure drops, then water cannot reach the tanks.
“The metro’s intervention is that the new tanks are now placed on the ground floor and then there is a pump that pumps water from the new tanks to the top tanks, we hope that this intervention will improve the situation.”
Carstens raised her concerns regarding the pipeline infrastructure; she added that no provision had been made for the developments in the area, which has now affected their water supply.
According to Dlamini, designs for bulk water pipelines to augment the existing system and provide capacity for future developments have been completed and the project is implementation ready.
“However, implementation of the project has been delayed by the budget cuts necessitated by the current economic situation and Covid-19.”
He added that a contractor has been assigned to complete the Northmead water tower, which residents believe will alleviate the low water pressure once complete.
“The contractor is compiling contractual compliance documents before site establishment and the water tower is expected to be complete by March 2022,” he concluded.
ALSO READ:
Water restriction stabalised in some areas
ALSO READ:
Safety around water remains a major concern
