Hundreds of residents have been without water since Sunday after a major water pipe burst in Lotus River, causing disruptions in various areas across the Kaap.
Since Sunday afternoon, residents in Ottery, Strandfontein, Grassy Park, Pelican Park, a number of informal settlements in Phillipi and even as far as Fishhoek and Kommetjie were without water after a pipe burst in George Road.
Keith Blake, a community activist speaking on behalf of residents in informal areas such as Egoli Park in Phillipi, said water pressure has returned to normal in a number of areas by Wednesday afternoon.
“The issue started on Sunday afternoon when a number of residents called me to say the water has been off. I immediately contacted the ward councillors for those areas and the city as it is not acceptable to be without water,” he tells the Daily Voice.
“As an Ottery resident, my water supply was also affected but things are slowly returning back to normal as I see the City has been hard at work fixing the issue. The pipe in George Road is a major supplier for water and these repairs were made quite quickly but after speaking to engineers there they told me that parts need to come from Joburg so that it can be fixed permanently.”
Mayco member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien said the situation is being monitored through all the areas and said some residents may receive lower water pressure and discolouration.
“Water will continue to be rerouted to the affected areas as far as possible to ensure ongoing supply, although at a low pressure in some areas until the repairs have been completed,” he says.
“When supply is restored, there may be a period of brief discolouration of water which is normal due to the change in flow direction within the pipeline.”
Badroodien said outage was caused by a burst 915mm pipeline. He added the magnitude of the repairs required the water supply to be shut down in order to safely undertake the necessary work.
The disruption proved to be a large inconvenience to many residents as Strandfontein councillor Elton Jansen, said he has been inundated with calls and messages asking when water would be restored and where the water tankers were.
Jansen said the water tankers were prioritised to assist schools in the vicinity while those with low water pressure were advised that the tanker would not be coming as they were only sent to areas where there was no water.
As the teams have been on shift since Saturday evening, Grassy Park councillor Donovan Nelson dropped off some much-needed refreshments to keep the team going and give them an extra boost to continue the repair work.
*Additional reporting by Cape Argus