Burst water pipe in Wychwood cause damage to property
“Rand Water staff relieved each other until the valve was closed before moving to the next valve."
Community stakeholders came out in numbers on October 27 to assist with a burst pipe at the corner of August and Lebela roads in Wychwood.
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The water burst occurred in the early evening and residents from August Road were affected by it since the opening of the pipe is positioned at the corner of their residence.
Ward 36 Clr Wendy Morgan said an airlock valve was damaged, which saw water burst into the air.
“This was a Rand Water supply line. Surrounding residents’ properties were damaged by the water. The overall damage report has not been released as yet,” said Morgan.
“The supply of water to residents was not affected. Rand Water management was on site until after 23:00 to ensure the water was stopped,” she said.
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“The Rand Water risk assessors were on site.
“They conducted inspections and captured details of residents who were affected. Risk assessors will visit the properties affected. They are dealing directly with the residents,” said Morgan.
She commended members of the community for acting swiftly to the situation and offering their assistance.
“Residents and members of the CPF helped Rand Water team to turn off the supply at numerous cut-off valves.
This had to be done slowly to ensure there was no further damage done due to pressure build-up. These teams had to turn the valves off by hand,” said Morgan.
“Rand Water staff relieved each other until the valve was closed before moving to the next valve.
“The furthest cut-off valve was in Bedfordview.
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“The City of Ekurhuleni water team was also on the site. We had to go a knee deep in icy water and cleared out blocked storm water drains to prevent the nearest electricity substation from flooding.
“The response from Rand Water and the senior management team must be noted,” said Morgan.
She added that her submission of a report to the Human Rights Commission in 2021 where areas like Sunnyridge and Primrose experienced water outages for six days has made Rand Water take notice of the areas and their surrounding towns.
“Further repairs to the airlock valve/s and chamber will be done by Rand Water,” said Morgan.
The GCN sent a request for comment to Rand Water, requesting comment by November 7.
At the time of going to print no comment had been received.
