A burst water pipe in Tienie Louw Street has been left to gush fresh water for at least three to four years, according to a resident who lives nearby.
The Highvelder was called to the scene last week and found clean water bubbling up from a huge hole in a main pipe and going to waste at hundreds of litres per minute.
The water flows through the overgrown veld and lands up in a stream that eventually flows into the Pet Dam.
The resident said he has reported the problem to the municipality on numerous occasions without success.
He said that at one stage technicians did come out for an inspection, but left again soon afterwards, saying they did not have the correct fittings in their storerooms.
“I can’t remember exactly how many times I have reported it, but still nobody seems to regard this as a serious problem, because nothing is being done about it. The last time I reported it was on 16 March and the reference number I received was 99050.”
According to a municipal printout, the job was assigned to a technician six days later on 22 March, yet the expected completion date was given as 20 March.
“It is now 4 April and still nothing has been done. One can imagine how many litres of fresh water have gone to waste over the years. Yet, we as consumers are penalised for excessive water usage. For this reason I have come to the newspaper to publicise the problem. Hopefully this will jolt the responsible people into some form of reaction.”
