Walking or driving through Douglasdale increasingly means encountering the same sight on street after street: excavated pavements, trenches, damaged storm water infrastructure and water pipes that residents say continue to fail despite repeated repairs.

A drive through Ward 106 with councillor Chris Santana revealed just how widespread the problem has become, with the councillor pointing out several locations where Johannesburg Water (JW) has excavated roads and verges following pipe failures.

Read more: Councillor calls out JW for rotten Sunninghill excavation

JW has acknowledged the scale of the problem. In response to questions from the Fourways Review, the utility confirmed that 151 water bursts had been recorded along Hornbill Road over the past 12 months. Nombuso Shabalala, JW spokesperson, attributed the repeated failures mainly to high water pressure resulting from pressure-reducing valve failures.

While Shabalala has confirmed plans to replace affected water infrastructure along Hornbill Road and surrounding areas, the utility has not provided a confirmed timeframe for the work.

During the drive, Santana stopped at the corner of Darter Avenue, Westway Road, Columbus Crescent, Van Riebeeck Street, Penguin Drive and Hornbill Road, where residents continued to wait for the surrounding infrastructure to be reinstated. “I am fighting for it because we are heading into spring and summer and I am concerned about any storm water and flooding that may occur because of these issues not being resolved on time,” Santana said. “They dug up, they have cut the park, there are no materials, so hence you have not got to do a water replacement.”

During a public meeting held regarding the issue of repeated pipe bursts, JW officials told residents that the pipes in the area had not reached the end of their expected useful lifespan and that pressure-management measures, including air valves, formed part of the intervention.

Two air valves were subsequently installed in Douglasdale, while JW also investigated pressure-related problems within the network.

After another burst occurred in Columbus Crescent following the installation of the air valve, Shabalala told the Fourways Review that several factors could contribute to pipe failures. Shabalala said some of the causes included fluctuations in working and residual pressures due to the time of day, demand and usage.

Also read: Open excavation a major concern for Fourways residents

She added that these variables lead to air pockets entering the system, ultimately resulting in a water hammer – a pressure surge from a rapid change in flow velocity where pressure at the point of the burst exceeds the design pressure of the pipeline. “This phenomenon is often exacerbated by ageing infrastructure, subsoil conditions, high water table, seasonal temperature fluctuations and other factors beyond the control of JW,” Shabalala said.

She further confirmed that four known water-related excavations were currently active or outstanding in Douglasdale. However, the drive through the area suggests the problem extends beyond individual repair sites.

Santana said the number of excavations residents encountered had become difficult to ignore. “It is almost every single street we go over within Douglasdale we have got an issue. From here we are going to go to Callaway where there is another issue,” he said.

He said the visible damage raised questions about JW’s position that the area’s pipes had not reached the end of their useful life. “I was just trying to show the Fourways Review that everywhere you look it is a dig for pipes, and yet JW will tell you we have not reached the useful life of the pipes within the area,” Santana said. “And yet they still have not given us any explanations of what is causing the burst every single day,” he said.

The repeated bursts have also created a secondary infrastructure problem, with road and storm water reinstatement often dependent on the completion of water repairs. At Hornbill Road, JW confirmed that it had already issued a reinstatement order to Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), but said it could not provide a timeframe for completion because reinstatement falls within the JRA’s scope.

The situation at Westway and Darter roads provides another example, where JRA began repairs to storm water infrastructure after excavation linked to a JW burst damaged the road reserve and surrounding infrastructure. Meanwhile, JW says it is working towards longer-term infrastructure renewal and has ongoing capacity upgrade programmes, including a water pipe renewal programme aimed at replacing mains that have reached the end of their useful lifespan.

For Douglasdale residents, however, the immediate question remains how many more excavations and bursts the area will experience before a lasting solution is implemented.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates!