An 88-year-old pensioner, Martjie van der Merwe from Sky Street, has been having problems with her solar geysers for a month now.
Van der Merwe stays in a house that belongs to the municipality.
Other residents in the vicinity have been experiencing the same problem with the geysers, which were installed in June last year by a contractor hired by the Ekurhuleni metro. According to the 88-year-old, the geyser started showing problems a month after installation.
“The water from the geyser is always leaking, causing damages to my roof. Since they installed the geyser, the running water from the tap and toilet is slow. My worry is that if this geyser continues to leak it will end up bursting.”
Van der Merwe said she has reported the matter but nobody has ever come to her house to check the geyser.
“We are not taken seriously by the municipality, but we are paying for water and we are paying for the houses we live in, even though they are in a bad state. The paint is starting to fall off and the roof is not in a good condition.
“There is no maintenance of these municipal houses.”
Anneline Smith, who lives next door, said: “Ouma’s geyser started leaking for a while now and it makes me angry that no one has fixed the problem. The water that comes out of the geyser flows down to the driveway of my yard. To prevent flooding in my driveway because of the geyser, I have attached a bottle cover around the gutter with a hosepipe so the water can flow at least onto the street.”
According to Marie Russell from the Samaritaan Huis, van der Merwe is not the only one in Sky Street having problems with her geyser.
“I once had a problem with the geyser but my son went up to the roof and fixed it so it wasn’t a major problem. My geyser is working fine, but I am aware of many people who have been complaining about these geysers,” Russell said.
Meanwhile, Van Dyk Park residents who live in the metro houses on Groendoring and Bramble streets said that they have been bathing with cold water due to solar geysers that were not connected after being installed. The geysers were installed between August and September.
According to one resident who wished to remain anonymous, a contractor hired by the metro came to her house to install the geyser but failed to come back to connect it.
“Since last year we don’t have warm water in the house because they disconnected the previous geyser to install the new one but failed to connect it,” the resident said.
“When I want to bath I have to boil water then take a pot and go to the bathroom and pour the water in the bathtub. It’s just not safe for me because I’m too old.
“I have reported the matter but no response has been received. We are left in the dark as we don’t know what’s happening with the geysers.”
The Advertiser is still waiting for a response from the metro.
ALSO READ: Metro in process of repairing lifts at Andries Scribante Haven
