Water supply problems in Broadacres will be fixed soon
BROADACRES – Broadacres residents have suffered water shortages over the past few months, but a solution is coming, says Joburg Water.
Frustrated Broadacres residents have been faced with an intermittent water supply over the past few months.
Joburg Water knows about the problem and is working towards fixing it, a representative from the utility told Fourways Review.
According to one Broadacres resident, Darryl Cowling, there have been different degrees of severity of water shortages in the area in the past four or five months, but the situation has become markedly worse over the past five weeks.
“Life is a living hell when you get up a little bit late one morning, realise there is no water and have to take your whole family to the nearby… [gym] so that everyone can have a shower,” said Cowling who lives in Stratford Gardens Estate.
He added that some days the water shut off at 7am and only returned about 4pm in the afternoon. At other times, while there is water in the pipes, the water pressure is so low that taps cannot be effectively used.
“We end up only being able to clean up the house and wash our clothes at night,” added Cowling.
“We also can’t entertain people, because the toilets don’t work.”
Tidimalo Chuene, the manager of the Joburg Water Stakeholder Relations and Communication Department, said the problem lay with a valve that regulated the supply of water to the area, which was recently found to be faulty. “Broadacres and large parts of the Randburg area are in one of the most challenging areas of the city in terms of water supply interruptions,” said Chuene.
“This is mainly from the fact that the water supply pipe infrastructure is old, and thus more prone to wear and tear. There is [now] a contractor on site replacing the valve control mechanism as a short-term solution.”
She added that the many property developments in the area, as well as the accidental damage caused to pipes by private contractors laying down fibre optic cables contributed to the situation. To fix the problem long term, the Randburg Depot has ordered a new valve gate, which would be ready and installed in early October.
There were also roaming water tankers in Chartwell and Broadacres.
“I do understand that there is a lot of development happening in the Broadacres area and that this could be part of the problem,” said Cowling. “But the council and Joburg Water could solve a lot of the anger in the area by just informing residents of what is going on. This would go a long way to building [residents’] trust.”
