DESPITE concerns from shoppers regarding an ongoing water leak outside the Chancery Lane, Knowles SPAR pedestrian entrance, the centre has called for the eThekwini Municipality to repair the pipe on numerous occasions.
Concerned resident, Alwyn Field said he first noticed the water running along the Knowles SPAR parking lot in early January and since, thousands of litres of water have been wasted.
“When looking around I could see that it was coming from just outside the Knowles property,” said Field. “My concern is the sheer amount of water that has been wasted as it has been going on for months and it runs day and night.”
Field said he has made numerous phone calls to the eThekwini Municipality to fix the problem.
“The last time I called them, which was in early February, they told me they were handling it, but they were waiting for a digger. It is baffling that we are all told to save water but then this is allowed to happen,” said Field.
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Knowles Centre’s maintenance manager, Roy Olsen, said he first made contact with city engineering in the middle November last year.
“They responded within 24 hours. They did a surface inspection on where they perceived the waterline to be and could not find any signs of a leak. They said they would speak to the supervisor to get a water test done because I was concerned it might then be sewage.
“A day or two later they came to take water samples for testing in the lab. No chlorine was found, and no sewage was found. During this time there would be fluctuations in the flow and at times it seemed like it was beginning to stop.
“When seepage flow started to increase I called city engineering again. A supervisor named Julian paid me a visit. He researched plans of water supply and other installations in the area. A few days later he came back to me and said they would do a dig in the new year. This was done. What was discovered was water seepage, and water coming out of a telecom conduit.
“Nearing the end of January I received a call from Julian who had persisted in trying to find the source of the problem, to inform me that he was sure that it was a stormwater drain located just past the robot at intersection of School Road and Bamboo Lane. On inspection, he found a gap about 80mm, which I also observed. The width of the flow before the gap, and after the gap, indicated that there was substantial seepage,” said Olsen.
Olsen contacted the eThekwini Municipality, received a confirmation receipt but no action was taken.
He followed up, but still no action was taken. After a third failed attempt to have the work repaired, Olsen contacted an officer at the Pinetown Roads and Drainage offices.
The eThekwini Municipality did not respond to the Highway Mail‘s request for comment by the time of going to print.
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