Bursting La Lucia water pipe adds to water shortage concerns
For four years a bursting pipe has beset residents on Davallen Avenue.
IN the midst of a provincial water shortage, a frustrated La Lucia resident is fuming over a a pipe that she says is “bursting constantly” on Davallen Avenue. It has been nearly a month since the last burst and now the pipe has once again sprung a leak.
The gushing pipe has been reported to the eThekwini Municipality’s water department but after 48 hours nobody showed up to repair the pipe. According to Michelle Lourens, the pipe on her property’s verge has been an ongoing problem for approximately four years.
“The piping is old and weak and has caused major damage to our home. But the biggest frustration is the fact that this is drinking water, and there it is gushing down the road. We are in a water shortage and the municipality is warning us to conserve water by drinking water from a cup while brushing our teeth. They are being pedantic about small things meanwhile these huge issues are not being addressed,” she said.
Lourens told the Northglen News yesterday that the water bursts were weakening her retaining wall as well as the boundary wall between her house and that of her neighbour.
“The water would come gushing down the driveway and dam up at the boundary wall. Eventually it just collapsed. We have had water flood into our laundry as well causing major damage,” she said.
What’s more the exasperated resident, said she was horrified when she was told by a municipal official that they could not replace the piping as they did not have the budget.
“Surely, after all the money that has been spent to constantly patch the bursts they might as well have replaced the whole piping and saved on the thousands of rands of water that is lost during every burst,” she said.
Last year, in June, residents claimed that the pipe had burst five times in four weeks – which added to to the city’s R513 million water loss.
Related articles:
Poor service delivery seals frustration in Somerset Park
City’s proposed water tariff increase slammed by uMhlanga cllr
Durban North plagued by incomplete trenches
