AFTER seven days of low pressure and dry taps in certain parts of Umbilo, water has been restored to the area with several leaks and pipe bursts identified as the root cause of the problem.
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Ward 33 Councillor Fran Kristopher said the problem started with a leak on Bartle Road, near the Methodist Church, where six valves were shut by technicians on-site and a TLB called in to excavate and locate the source of the problem while waiting for water tanks to arrive.
“The leaking pipe was fixed, and upon inspection, all seemed to be in order as surrounding residents confirmed that the water had been restored. However, an hour later, residents complained about low pressure with some, once again, not having no water,” said Kristopher.
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A burst pipe in the Prospect and Fielden area worsened the ordeal as it took a day to repair, resulting in low pressure in a number of homes. The problem was further compounded by another leak in Hillier Road and Cavell Place.
“We found two badly damaged valves, and the technical team had to cut through the surface to locate and replace the damaged valves in Cavell on Bartle Road end and on Umbilo Road end. By now, it was already day six of disruptions to the water supply for some of the residents in Umbilo. I requested more tankers and reached out to Cllr Thabani Mthethwa and Deputy Head of Water Msizi Shabalala as this challenge of low pressure needed intervention as well as advanced technicians to map and locate where the problem stemmed from. By day seven, we managed to backtrack all four fixes and locate the valve that was causing the problem off Bartle Road. Within 30 minutes, residents reported pressure was at normal levels, and all was back to normal,” said Kristopher.
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Meanwhile, the eThekwini Municipality recently reported success in plugging leaks with 816 pipe bursts, 5 429 operational leaks, 3 901 customer-service pipe leaks and 3 412 attended to in August. City manager Musa Mbhele said, “Reducing water losses and improving water management remains a key priority; it is essential that we turn the tide as these losses translate into significant financial losses and are a resource drain on the municipality.”
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