UPDATE 12.51pm.
Ward councillor Lynette du Toit informed the News that water flow has been restored after water was pumped from the submerged pump station in Shannon Road to service and restart the pumps.
“A massive thank you to the whole Mogale City Local Municipality water team for their continued efforts to assist residents with the water crisis in Noordheuwel after load-shedding caused the pumps at the Noordheuwel substation to malfunction. Duncan, Johan, Frans and the team … you are true miracle workers!
“Thank you to the residents for your patience. Kindly do not open taps to full capacity as yet,” Lynette said.
What you need to know about the Kenmare and Noordheuwel water crisis
Parts of Noordheuwel and Kenmare have been without water for almost 24 hours. Here is what you need to know if you are affected.
Confused and frustrated residents of Noordheuwel have been without water for almost a day now. Ward 21’s (Noordheuwel) councillor, Lynnette du Toit shed some light on the situation.
“Firstly I want to say a major thank you to the Mogale official (Duncan) who has been giving me regular updates with regard to the current crisis at the Kenmare pump station,” Lynnette said in a statement.
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It seems that two water pumps were damaged by a load-shedding spike yesterday. Lynnette said a team had been dispatched to access and initiate repairing the two pumps.
“This proved extremely difficult as the pump station was flooded due to pumps not being operational after Eskom’s load-shedding,” she added.
“Duncan is hands-on and is busy assisting the repair teams at the site,” she said.
Water tankers have been arranged for residents who are affected by the water crisis. They will be at the Khosa Club (Frederick Cooper Drive) as well as at Pick n Pay.
After working all night in difficult conditions, the team managed to fix one of the pumps, but after a meeting early on Thursday morning, 12 December, a decision was allegedly made to pump out all the water to get a better assessment of the condition of the pumps.
“Should the pumps be repairable there will be a lead time and a curing time, which obviously could lead to a further delay of up to 48 hours or more before water is restored in the area. Should it be uneconomical to try and repair the pumps, as there are no available spares for them, (due to Mogale City’s lack of planning, ageing infrastructure with a lack of constant maintenance, theft out of stores and cash-flow constraints) spares will be purchased or new pumps will be bought to alleviate and hopefully resolve the water pump station problem.”
She explained that companies supplying these spares and new pumps fortunately have not yet closed for the holidays.
“We ask residents to be patient during this trying time and use the water tankers made available. We will keep everyone updated via community groups.”
