The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) provided feedback on the recent water outages that caused wide public frustration and concerns raised by Ward 16 Clr Jaco Terblanche.
In response to whether CoE will implement upgrades to deteriorating water infrastructure and when the public can expect to see the start of these repairs, CoE spokesperson Themba Gadebe said, “The department has completed preliminary designs for the replacement of asbestos cement pipes in the Kempton Park water supply area.
“However, the implementation of the project will not commence during the current MTREF period (2020/21 – 2022/23 financial years) due to budget constraints.
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“Budget for implementation will be allocated in the next MTREF period.”
He also mentioned that the department was aware of the burst pipe addressed by Terblanche’s previous statement.
“The department was aware of the leaking pipe, but due to the magnitude of the repair work and the size of the pipe, it was not possible to simply jump in and do repairs. The repair work had to be planned as critical supply areas for Spartan, the CBD, Aston Manor, Allen Grove, Glen Marais and Bredell had to be addressed during one shutdown, including the valve replacements for the chamber at Sasol garage.”
Gadebe said the repair work included the following:
- 400mm, 450mm and 600mm valves were replaced at the Sasol garage chamber.
- Valve installation to 1 000mm diameter pipe at Bohler Steel next to the Rand Water connection, to allow for water isolation and opening.
- Replacement of inlet interlink valves at the corner of Isando and Foundary roads.
- Installation of pressure reducing valve (PRV) at the corner of Kelvin and Western streets in Spartan.
- Repair of the water leak at Isando Supa Quick.
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“The first leak was repaired and technicians are still attending to other leaks on this pipe and working on replacing another pipe across Isando Road.
“The work was initially planned for March 2020, however, the proposed shutdown was retracted following the announcement of the national lockdown. Delays were caused by sourcing of material of additional material for bigger pipes. Teams also had to break parts of the valve chamber to allow for working space as chambers are confined spaces,” Gadebe said.
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