Empty pipes devour water credits

Zinkwazi residents were left with their hands in their dry hair when the influx of holiday makers over December compounded the effects of the drought, resulting in chronic water shortages, spinning water meters and brown water flowing from the taps.

Adding to the crisis, those with Jo Jo tanks, in desperation, allegedly started filling their tanks with municipal water when there was water in the taps, causing the town to run out of water faster.

Jan Cillie from Zinkwazi kept a record of the times the town ran out of water over November and December and recorded 18 counts of taps drying up, sometimes for up to three days at a time.

“Most of the time there is no answer at the call centre and when the call eventually gets answered, they did not have any feedback, even if the problem was reported two days earlier,” said Cillie.

He said billing was also a problem.

“Every month I still get a bill from Ilembe for water consumption while on pre-paid. When the taps dry up, air gets into the pipes, causing the prepaid meters to spin and “eat up” my water credits,” said Cillie.

Zinkwazi resident Gail Harris said she asked the Ilembe district municipality (IDM) in September 2015 for increased water restrictions and water scheduling for the December period to prolong the town’s water supply during the peak holiday period.

“We received pamphlets in October about pending water scheduling but it was never enforced because our boreholes were supposedly sufficient to carry the load,” said Harris.

However, the IDM said the water scheduling was carried out amid strict and well communicated water restrictions.

“The Ilembe district has been declared a drought stricken area. The notices and communications regarding restrictions were continuously sent to the consumers via radio and print. The same was done with the Zinkwazi community via the ratepayers’ association. We were in constant communication with the ratepayers’ association, updating them of the drought situation in the area. The water scheduling notices formed part of the discussions.”

IDM said the Zinkwazi water was augmented with water from Darnall, drawn from the Darnall Dam which had dried up. The brown colour of the water is apparently caused by vegetation in the dam but the water is still safe to drink.

“The water quality tests reveals that the water is safe for drinking but has a high iron content. This is normally residual from the pipelines and reservoir but it dies off after running the line for a while.”

The problem with spinning prepaid water meters is handled by the municipality’s revenue unit and cases are treated individually. Cases must be reported to the call centre on 032-437-9379.

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