The metro, on Thursday, unveiled six single cab bakkies which will be used to curb water losses by speedily attending to burst and leaking pipes in the region.
These vehicles have been allocated to the five water and sanitation depots that experience the highest number of pipe bursts in their areas – namely; Alberton, Benoni, Germiston, Nigel and Tembisa.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said the rapid response teams will ensure complaints are attended to within the standard response time of 48 hours, to reduce water wastage.
“An increase in water loss has been a major challenge within the city for the past few years and this initiative will address this, as well as helping to reduce the risk of damage to private property and infrastructure,” said Gadebe.
“As a scarce resource, water is purchased at a price for supply to residents, who pay the municipality based on their consumption.
“The loss of water through leakages or burst pipes, therefore, affects the city’s revenue and increases the demand unnecessarily.”
The rapid response unit is expected to be fully operational by January, next year.
Ekurhuleni has nine water depots attending to the entire city and each will ultimately have a dedicated rapid response team in the near future.
Residents must report water leaks to the 24 hour services call centre on 086 054 3000.
