According ward councillor Beverly Jacobs the Johannesburg Water Service Level Agreement (SLA) on the repair of burst pipes needs to be urgently revised.
“The current SLA allows the entity a period of 48hrs to attend to the burst pipe, disregarding the severity of the burst and thereby allowing thousands of litres of water to be wasted.”
This follows the two water pipe bursts in Windsor East that resulted in water gushing out and left residents without water for more than 24 hours.
Jacobs said that the burst on the Corner of Alice and Duchesses Avenue is the second burst experienced in less than a year.
“One therefore questions the entity’s ability to permanently resolve the issues and also to question whether patchwork is really the answer to resolving issues of burst water pipes and old infrastructure.”
Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for Joburg Water explained that the burst was caused by a combination of factors. Some of the causes include fluctuations in working and residual pressures due to time of day, demand, and usage. The latter variables lead to air pockets entering the system that ultimately results in water hammer.
Water hammer refers to a pressure surge from a rapid change in the flow velocity where the pressure at the point of the burst exceeds the design pressure of the pipeline.
“This situation is worsening by ageing infrastructure, subsoil conditions, high water table, seasonal temperatures fluctuations and other factors beyond the control of the entity.”
Shabalala added that the standard response time for attending a burst water pipe is 48 hours. However, these response times can fluctuate and be delayed according to the nature of the repairs that need to be done, the machinery needed, as well as the human labour needed.
“Water pipe bursts are one of the problems we are facing. They are resulting in water wastage, property damage, and disruptions to operations, all of which can have financial implications.”
The entity reminds and urges residents to use water sparingly.
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