Rands and litres go down the drain

THOUSAND of Rands as well as thousands of litres of water continue to go down the drain as a burst pipe in the Queensmead industrial area remains neglected. The manager of a manufacturing company on Piet Retief Road said the burst pipe has affected production.

“We came in at 7am on Monday morning to find water gushing out the pipe and the place was already flooded when we got here. We are on two days’ down time,” said Nicky Jacobs.

She said the delay in production costs the company approximately R120 000 a day and the fact that thousands of litres are going down the drain only added to her list of growing concerns. “There are people and animals without water. The water bill urges us to save at least 15 percent of water, but can we do that if they don’t attend to reports of pipe bursts immediately?” she questioned.

Jacobs said they have made numerous reports to the eThekwini Municipality, informing them of the burst pipe, and were told that there were no plumbers available.

She is also concerned that if the burst pipe is not attended to, water will wash down the bank of the company’s property, which might cause the fence to collapse. “Who will pay for the damage done if the wall collapses entirely? The driveway is destroyed and there is sand everywhere,” she said.

eThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said all reported cases are being attended to. “As a caring city, the well-being of all our residents is of utmost importance to us. Customers are urged to report a fault or lodge a complaint once and thereafter use their allocated reference number to follow up on the progress of their enquiry with the customer service centre on the number 080 131 3013,” she said.

Mthethwa said the municipality urges residents to report any surcharging sewage issues immediately to the centre, especially recurrent issues that occur during or immediately after periods of heavy rain. “The city is also trying to curb water pipeline bursts as the conservation of water has always been a priority. The municipality urges residents to continue reporting illegal water connections and water leaks to the number.

Residents can also use the number 083 707 3013 to SMS when reporting water leaks or e-mail eservices@durban.gov.za. The quicker eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) is informed about a leak, the quicker they can respond and address the matter to prevent further water loss. The municipality has qualified and dedicated staff whose key mandate is to deliver services to the people of eThekwini,” said Mthethwa.

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