Johannesburg Water (JW) has confirmed that the leaks in Ward 91, particularly on the M1 by Grayston Drive – just outside Wynberg – may take some time to fully reign in, as the entity follows their procurement process to procure external service providers to service the ward.
The ward is plagued by a myriad of water leaks, which include the great chasm on 5th Street in Wynberg; and the current water-fixture on Pretoria Avenue in Sandton CBD.
JW spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said that the utility could not provide any timelines at this time, as this can only be done once service providers have been appointed.
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Shabalala explained why the service provider’s procurement process took so long, indicating that JW shares the underground terrain with other service providers.
“There are a lot of services that lie/are built on top of Johannesburg Water pipelines,” Shabalala explained. “Before any development takes place in an area, the first services that are installed are water and sewerage pipelines, which results in Johannesburg Water’s infrastructure usually being situated beneath all the other services that are there.
“When Johannesburg Water excavates the road or pavement to locate a pipe leak or burst, the hole is usually filled with water, making it difficult to see the other pipes and fibre lines which belong to other service providers and companies,” Shabalala said.
Responding to the challenges on 5th Street in Wynberg, Shabalala reported that their supplier had visited the site on August 14 to take measurements for required fittings.
“The depot teams are preparing to lay the pipes on site, and we are engaging with the Johannesburg Roads Agency to assist us with the repairs of the storm water drain, as we intend to lay the new pipeline above the stormwater system as the existing pipe is below the stormwater system,” said Shabalala. “As soon as the lines have been laid, Johannesburg Water teams will backfill the excavation in order for the residents and/or businesses to gain access to their properties.”
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Shabalala concluded with an update on the situation on Pretoria Avenue.
“Johannesburg Water contractors were on site last week to take measurements in order for them to prepare quotations,” Shabalala closed. “Currently, Johannesburg Water is waiting for the quotations to be submitted so that we can start to evaluate them and raise the order.”
Ward 91 councillor Andrew Stewart, on August 15, lamented how very little had been achieved towards preventing where the ward currently finds itself – between the proverbial rock and a very wet hard place.
“To reiterate what has been stated in the past, Joburg has not invested enough in pre-emptive maintenance over many years,” Stewart said. “Unfortunately, we are going to be living with emergency repair work and outages for some time to come.”
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