Water outage continues in outer west areas

RESIDENTS in the outer west areas have been experiencing an irregular water supply for more than a week, after Umgeni Water technicians “unintentionally” closed a water pipe valve outside of Pietermaritzburg on Thursday, 31 July.

The shutdown caused six reservoirs, owned by the department of water and sanitation (DWS), to run dry. This was confirmed by Umgeni Water and DWS.

Several residents in Botha’s Hill confirmed that the water supply had been temporarily restored on Tuesday, 5 July, but they were once again stuck without any water since 9am on Wednesday, 6 August.

On the days that the water supply was restored the water pressure was reportedly extremely low.

Jane Candow, who owns a bed and breakfast in Chapel Road, said that the water shutdown has not only inconvenienced her and her family on a personal level, but has also had a negative impact on her business.

“How are we suppose to run a business without water? Many businesses have lost customers, because they can’t effectively provide their services,” she said.

Sandra Galway, who runs a hairdressing company in Botha’s Hill, added that she and her staff have been using pool water to complete most of their tasks.

“We have been forced to boil our pool water. We use it to wash our client’s hair and to bath. It is ridiculous,” she said.

Fellow resident, Janine Fourie, said that on Tuesday the fire department was forced to drive between Botha’s Hill and Wyebank to collect water to douse a fire.

“It is a health hazard. We also have not seen any water tanks. When you phone to complain they tell you they will send you a tank, but they never do.

“I would think it would be common courtesy? Why do we even need to ask? Do we have to resort to striking to get some results?” asked the frustrated resident.

Galway also pointed out that when one of her neighbours contacted DWS to enquire about the cause of the interrupted water supply, she was told that several water pipes had burst in Botha’s Hill.

“We are hearing various excuses and nothing makes sense, and nothing is being resolved,” she said.

Another Botha’s Hill resident, Dalton Edwards, said that he had also been told that the water outage was caused by burst pipes. “It is frustrating.

I have lived here for 22 years and I have witnessed the decay. The water supply has been funny for some time now. I hope that it is not something that we have to become use to,” he said.

Candow echoed Edward’s comment, saying she experiences a water outage at least twice a year.

Neil Macleod, eThekwini Municipality’s head of Water and Sanitation, confirmed that the reservoir that feeds the Botha’s Hill area has been restocked, and was not the cause of the problem.

It is suspected that the current water outage is a secondary repercussion of the initial water outage.

Macleod explained that when the reservoirs ran dry the bitumen or coal tar coating that prevents the corrosion of the steel pipes also dried out and began chipping.

“When the water was restored the bitumen began blocking the filters, restricting the flow and causing bursts. We have been cleaning the filters and repairing the bursts,” he said.

In response to the regular water outages, Macleod said that it was the cause of old asbestos cement pipes that had been laid between the 1940s to the 1980s.

“The asbestos pipes have reached the end of their lives, and are constantly bursting. Residents are bearing the brunt of the cheap piping. We have replaced 2 million metres of the pipes, but still need to replace approximately 1 million meters. It has cost the department about R2 billion to replace the pipes. We can only continue as the budget becomes available,” he said.