Taps dry as road river runs
Gary Wade has had to resort to fetching water with buckets from a pool of a burst pipe as his taps have run dry.
Gary Wade from Fourways Gardens does not have water at his house because of a pipe leak at Candeboo Road. He said he wants it to be repaired as a matter of urgency and has exhausted different ways to get Joburg Water’s attention but he is not winning with any of them.
The water has been leaking for about three weeks now, according to Wade.
“Before leaving for Cape Town to see a family member, I got a plumber to verify that it was a council’s leak, using my own money. On my return 10 days later, I started following up on the reference number which was given to me, but nothing came of it. This has escalated to me calling twice a day now for the past week. Recently, I started to call as early as 04:30 am. I am worried because water is a precious commodity, and this leak is now a torrent of water equating to a swimming pool of water every day.”
He said what is even more painful for him is the fact that he does not have water at his house as a result. “I have to go out to the pool now to fetch water with buckets. What do we call that? We pay rates and taxes but the services that we get are so pathetic.”
Wade has called out the municipality for not being able to deal with issues relating to water in the city. “One of the issues municipalities have to deal with is the amount of water they purchase from Rand Water and the amount they manage to bill. No wonder there is a huge deficit.”
He is now left with more questions than answers. “More than 500 000 litres have now gone into the sewer which is another problem. Our sewer systems are collapsing, and one can now see why. When such an amount is being added to the system from one leak one can imagine what volume there is as on a daily basis one encounters these leaks. [I took] a trip to Laser Park recently I found fire hydrants pouring out water at a far greater rate. A similar situation was observed in Northlands Deco Park.”
Joburg Water’s Nolwazi Dlamini was approached for comment, but none was received by the time of going to print.
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