THE City has responded to the water supply challenges which have been affecting the Northdene and Moseley areas. According to the City, the challenges are due to a faulty pump at Northdene 3 which supplies Firwood reservoir.
Chairman of the Moseley Neighbourhood Watch (MNW), Corne Momberg said to have water cuts especially in the middle of a pandemic is just unacceptable.
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“What makes the situation worse is the lack of planning and communication from eThekwini Municipality. It was only after four days of suffering, with no explanation that the City decides to give feedback,” said Momberg.
The resident added that he would like to thank the ward councillor, Chris van den Berg who worked tirelessly to put pressure on the municipality and arrange water tankers.
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The City’s spokesman, Mandla Mayisela said as a result of the faulty pump at Northdene 3, Firwood reservoir is battling to maintain levels as there is currently one operational pump supplying this reservoir and reticulation.
“This has led to high level areas not receiving water supply at all as reservoir levels at Firwood reservoirs are critically low.”
Mayisela said technical teams are on site working on an interim solution to ensure supply is restored to all consumers by bringing water supply from reservoirs such as Mt Moriah and others.
He added that other initiatives include isolating one compartment at Firwood and utilising only one to ensure required levels at Firwood are achieved and maintained so the high-level zone water supply is restored as well.
According to a statement, which was sent out by the municipality, it is anticipated that the second pump will be back and operational on 11 March 2021.
“During this period consumers will either experience intermittent supply, low pressure or water outages. Water tankers will be dispatched to service areas experiencing prolonged outages,” said the City spokesman.
Ward 63 councillor, Chris van den Berg said the water outage could have been handled better.
“The outage should have been preempted and communicated to the residents at the beginning,” he said.
He said, however, he was doing his best to make sure that water tankers are available every afternoon to try and reduce the pressure on the residents.
“Being without water is stressful. I have also engaged with the city at every level to try and make sure that any and everything is done to sort this out as soon as possible,” he said.
All queries regarding water supply must be referred to the call centre on the following numbers; Contact Centre Toll-free Number: 080 311 1111 or WhatsApp Fault Reporting Line: 073 148 3477.
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