Sporadic water supply in Doonside angers residents
Doon Heights residents have had to bear the brunt of the water shortage on the South Coast for weeks.
WATER woes continue to plague residents in Doonside, Doon Heights and other areas as many households are on their second week without a reliable water supply.
A Stanwick Road resident, Gail Sykes, said she moved into her current residence on May 10 and has not had water since moving in. She and her family have had to rely on swimming pool water to bathe, flush the toilet, and wash clothes.
Also read: Athlone Park faces another water shortage
“We constantly have to buy water for cooking and drinking. We also have to boil bathing water, so we spend more on electricity. This is placing a huge financial strain on us,” said Sykes.
Her 13-year-old son has not been going to school because after she washed his white school shirts with pool water, they turned yellow. Her two-year-old has experienced a tummy ache since the outage started. Since the water went off, Sykes said the water tanker has not been consistent. She said that what is worrying is that residents will still be charged for the water they never used.
Water shortages in the south of Durban started in March when the South Coast Augmentation (SCA) pipeline experienced mechanical failures, causing reservoirs all over Amanzimtoti to run low as more water was being consumed than could be supplied. To remedy this, eThekwini Municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water released a joint statement on May 10, saying water supply to Amanzimtoti will temporarily be re-routed from Woodlands 3 and 4 reservoirs to Wiggins Waterworks Gravity Main. This was supposed to be from May 10 until the 18th.
“This will enable the South Coast system to build up storage, thereby helping it to recover quickly,” the statement said.
At the same time, the eThekwini Municipality will monitor water levels at the Wiggins Waterworks reservoir storage to ensure that water levels do not fall below the 20% mark. The South Coast supply system has been struggling to recover and maintain adequate levels since the municipality completed repairs to a large diameter pipeline that supplies water to the south,” it said.
Delays caused this arrangement to not start on time as announced, causing the Amanzimtoti reservoirs to continue running low.
The statement also said that to meet the demand, all systems are operating at maximum capacity.
“We therefore appeal to communities to use water sparingly and avoid activities that consume excess water to ensure that supply to all communities is maintained,” said the statement.
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