Water outage: Northdene pump failure leaves Chatsworth high and dry
With residents in the affected area heading into their fourth day without water, the ongoing water crisis caused many to panic.
WITH many parts of the densely populated Chatsworth community affected by the water shortage for more than three days, people are desperately appealing for help on social media.
Some residents in the greater Queensburgh area have offered to help their Chatsworth neighbours by setting up hosepipes at their homes to allow people to fill containers at the gates to their properties.
Northdene pump station
According to eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela faulty pumps are to blame for the water disruptions in the south of Durban.
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Mayisela said all three pumps in the Northdene pump station had failed resulting in no water being pumped to reservoirs downstream.
The affected reservoirs include Chatsworth 4, Shallcross, Harinagar, Klaarwater, Birch Road, St Wendolin’s Pumps, and Washington Heights.
The city also listed the areas where this problem would result in prolonged water outages including parts of Queensburgh and Mariannridge as well as many areas in Chatsworth.
Shallcross
Shallcross ward councillor Previn Vedan kept residents updated on WhatsApp.
Some of the alarming messages suggested that people were attacking water tankers which arrived to supply residents with water.
He said residents arrived at the sites where tankers were distributing water and refused to let them leave.
Vedan also claimed that one tanker’s tyres were slashed at the Chatsworth Stadium.
Part of the problem identified by Vedan was that residents shared the location of tankers on social media and this led to some residents from other areas crowding the tankers and preventing the them from servicing all the areas where water was needed.
“Due to the panic caused by multiple messages circulating, residents fill multiple buckets of waters and this results in the tankers constantly leaving the community to be refilled and the return time results in delays.”
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Updates from city
On Monday morning there were still people desperately seeking water for those living in the areas where the supply has been interrupted.
Meanwhile, the city announced that it had commissioned the cross-connection from Hocking reservoir to Washington Heights Reservoir saying that this will enable a water supply to KwaSanti, Luganda, Klaarwater, Washington Heights, Intake, Savannah Park, Nagina, Nsizwakazi and Demat.
According to the city, the water supply is expected to be restored tonight.
“The city is building capacity to these reservoirs catering for the above-mentioned areas. The contractor is hard at work installing the broken pump in Northdene which will enable all areas affected to get water,” said Mayisela.
“The public is urged to refrain from impeding water tankers to proceed to other areas. We apologise profusely for the inconvenience caused and thank the public for understanding,” added Mayisela.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
