TONNIE WYKMANS of Birchleigh North writes:
I wish these new “water ambassadors” the best of luck. I honestly want to be positive as it seems at last something is going to happen.
I trust it will not just be lip service. I must admit that if one logs a water leak lately it does get fixed quickly.
Sadly, fixing the leak is not the only part of the job that needs to be done. It seems the team that should fix the road afterwards does not come to this party at all.
Also read:
• Ambassadors to fight water losses
• Ekurhuleni in top three as far as water losses are concerned
• DA: promises that water woes will be addressed
In Susanna Street in Birchleigh North a water leak was fixed. It took more than three months to get some cement into these holes which became serious potholes.
In Julia Street the whole pipe underneath the road had to be dug up and a new pipe installed. For two months now we are sitting with a trench which has not been filled properly.
It is getting deeper every day and after the much prayed for rain, this trench is worse and will break a car’s suspension if driving too fast over it.
Actually, this trench is a blessing in disguise. All the traffic and taxis from Tembisa, using Julia Road as a shortcut because of a hole in a fence, must now drive slowly because of it.
May I suggest that when this trench is eventually filled some time in the future, that it be overfilled to become a speed hump. This way the roads department can kill two birds with one stone.
In a recent article the metro said a dripping tap would waste as much as one litre an hour. Yes, that is very true. Every leak should be attended to immediately once discovered – more so during the worst drought SA is experiencing right now.
A reservoir on Jones Road has been overflowing for more than a year now and counting. I and many others have logged umpteen calls to our call centre about this. We also contacted the councillor responsible for this area. Sadly, to no avail.
Day after day a valve apparently does not close properly resulting in the reservoir overflowing. Through just this one leak we lose millions of pure potable water a day.
No wonder 40 per cent of the fresh water Rand Water supplies to Ekurhuleni cannot be accounted for.
Motorists drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid driving through the stream of clean water and to not splash pedestrians on the pavement that walk to and from Isando Station.
I ask Ekurhuleni and these ambassadors to react quickly. You will most certainly be monitored by not just me.
