While driving along Keswick Road, no one would suspect that litres of water are being wasted every hour.
This devastating leak was brought to the GCN’s attention by employees from local company Transnet.
“The pipe burst three weeks ago,” said one of the employees.
The burst water pipe causing the uproar is located a stone’s throw from the road, hidden in the veld by long grass and fallen tree branches, with the water not trickling, but gushing, out.
According to the company, the pipe belongs to Rand Water.
“When we contacted Rand Water they admitted that the pipe was theirs, but that the pipe could only be repaired in 21 days because they cannot get the metro to turn off the water before then,” the employee explained.
The GCN sent an urgent query to the metro to determine if this was true, and if so, how the metro could justify wasting the water.
Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro, said, “Metro officials were informed about the burst pipe, however, the pipe belongs to Rand Water and they will manage the situation and do the repair work.”
No mention was made of the alleged 21-day waiting period.
The GCN attempted to contact Rand Water, but no comment had been received at the time of going to press.
However, this is not the first report of serious water leaks being left for long periods of time.
With the ongoing drought that the country faces many residents cannot understand why, once they report a water leak, it takes so long to repair.
“There has been a leak in Meyer Street since February 3,” said a concerned Germiston resident.
“The plumbers have been there every day since to try to repair the leak, but still a river of clean water continues to run, filling the trench.
“With the shortage of water we are experiencing, this problem needs to be addressed.”
Carol Kruger also noticed the leak.
“I work in the Germiston area and was absolutely disgusted when I walked up Meyer Street and noticed a massive hole with clean water spurting out and running down the road by the bucketful,” she said.
“It appears that work was carried out but that the site was merely left.
“Taking into consideration the drought and the people and animals dying of thirst, it is heartbreaking to see all this water going to waste.”
Gadebe said a maintenance backlog has caused the delay in repair work.
Other articles you may be interested in:
Stringent cemetery by-laws to curb tombstone violations
