Editor – While driving past the old Drive-In, I was shocked to see water pouring down the road towards Bellpruit Bridge. Millions and millions of kilolitres wasted by a burst pipe left totally unattended for most of Easter Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the leaking water pipe had been repaired. My question, however, to uThukela is how was it possible to leave such a massive leak unattended for an entire day?
Forget about the people who went without water for the day, let’s just look at the economic implications of millions upon millions of kilolitres of drinking water being wasted.
If one looks at how much the district municipality charges for water, then the figure wasted starts running into hundreds of thousands of rands. Now just because there is no real-cost (water is, after all, a FREE resource) and only the water treatment to make it drinkable actually costs REAL money, does that make it okay to waste it?
We are talking real money potentially earned yet wasted. No one will be held accountable for the wastage and uThukela will just bumble along…
If that is the case, why charge for water in the first place?
The simple answer is: It does cost real money and it also costs real money to pay for municipal staff, councillors, vehicles, mayors, council chambers and much more…
The only revenue uThukela makes is from selling water to both residents and big business. Sadly, almost nothing is made from supplying Ezakheni and other rural areas. Now this is not a “pick on the previously disadvantaged” with a demand that they suddenly pay – everyone knows that is not going to happen. What it is, however, is a plea to uThukela to treat water leaks like they actually cost money…
To treat them as important, something that needs repairing fast. Yes, we all know national government pays an equitable share grant for water to be supplied to areas that cannot afford it. But that is no excuse to waste water, so blatantly. Not just on Easter Monday, but on any day of the year, treat all water leaks as emergencies and you will be amazed how much money and time they can truly save!
