“It has been a long and smelly week.”
These are the words of Ward 36 councillor Wendy Morgan following several days without water.
The water outage, which began on Saturday according to Morgan, was caused by a burst Rand Water supply pipe.
Sunnyridge, Sunnyrock, Solheim, Fishers’ Hill, Dawnview, Symhurst, Wanneburg, Gerdview, Homestead, Rustivia, Elandsfotein, Klopper Park and parts of Primrose were just some of the areas affected by the outage, which was widespread across Ekurhuleni.
Several of the affected areas still did not have water on Thursday.
RELATED ARTICLE: Burst Rand Water supply line leaves several Germiston suburbs dry
Rand Water technicians worked around the clock to repair the supply line and last Monday released a statement announcing the repairs had been completed.
“During the course of last Sunday night, we were able to repair all the damaged portions of the pipeline,” the statement said.
“At 5.30am last Monday morning, we began recommissioning the pipeline.
“We are continuing to monitor the system and its recovery.”
Rand Water expected that water would be fully restored in all areas last Monday night.
This, however, was not the case as local reservoirs had to fill before water could be restored to all affected areas.
“We are receiving a steady supply of water from Rand Water,” said spokesperson for the metro Themba Gadebe last Tuesday.
“However, reservoirs in Germiston, Primrose, Kempton Park, Bonaero Park and Alberton are still in the process of being filled.
“We are unable to pump from Windsor Street or Dawnview as the required level has not been reached.”
On Thursday several suburbs were still without water as the reservoirs continued to be filled.
Several residents shared their frustration.
“Being a resident of Sunnyridge for several years now, I feel that whomever is in charge of our water and electricity is definitely not doing their job properly,” said Janine Parkes.
“Being without water in this area has happened one too many times.
“Sunnyridge is always the first off and the last on when it comes to water or electricity.
“This time we were told the water was only meant to be off for the weekend, but it continued into the rest of the week.
“Every day there is another reason for it not being back on.
“I see poor and elderly people struggling to get water and carrying it up to their flats and houses in heavy containers. How is this acceptable?
“Someone needs to take responsibility.”
Another Sunnyridge resident, Manus Lombard, said, “This is becoming a health hazard.
“We have been without water since last Friday.”
Throughout the water outage, Morgan advised that roving water tankers would be available at the Sunnyridge Circle.
However, she did warn that due to the small number of tankers available they would have to go and refill regularly.
She further advised that the tankers would first visit local care facilities, old age homes and even Bertha Gxowa Hospital (which also had no water).
This meant that many residents were left frustrated as they were waiting hours for water.
RELATED ARTICLE: Rand Water estimates water will be restored tomorrow afternoon
Not everyone was left despondent though, Diana Kent from Kruinhof Retirement Village thanked the metro for their help during the outage.
“A thank you goes to the metro personnel who brought water to our village in Elandsfontein from last Saturday to last Monday and helped us carry buckets of water to our cottages.
“They were very polite and respectful.”
She also thanked other community members who assisted during the outage.
In an update on Friday, Morgan confirmed that the water had been restored to all affected suburbs.
“The metro and Rand Water met and have committed to maintaining a stable water flow and urged residents to use water sparingly, ” said Morgan.
The GCN sent a query to the metro for clarity on the meeting with Rand Water, but at the time of going to print no comment had been received.
Residents share their thoughts on the GCN Facebook page:
Kabawo Samisto: “There is a lot of water wasted on the streets of Primrose, while some of us don’t have water in our taps. This is rubbish.”
Anna Sawyer: “Instead of using the money for parties, the money should be used for regular maintenance.”
Sharon Rodda: “Water outages are nothing unusual, it’s every weekend and it’s like we just have to live with it.”
Megan Pelser: “This is almost every weekend. If it’s not the water then there is no electricity.”
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za or Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Kgotsofalang Mashilo (journalist) kgotsofalangm@caxton.co.za
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