LYDENBURG – Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) has responded to the water crisis which caused residents a great deal of frustration during the past couple of weeks.
TCM said the water treatment plant was flooded which resulted in the pumps and motors being submerged and damaged. “Whether it was deliberate or not, the municipality decided to suspend the officials who were responsible for the operations until investigations had been concluded.
“Lydenburg Smelter assisted TCM the whole night by procuring new motors and pumps, and by morning the system was operating. The subsequent shortage of water supply was caused by power outages that were announced by Eskom.”
They said the continued shortage of water at Sterkspruit and the Heads Estate was due to the fact that all reticulation pipelines downtown were not filled. “There will be problems in filling the elevated tank at the museum and unfortunately it is because of the design of the pipelines of the whole town which had been done some years back.
With the help of the Lydenburg Smelter, the major issues had been resolved and operations are back on track thanks to the technical staff of Lydenburg Smelter as TCM operators had been suspended until investigations and disciplinary procedures had been concluded.”
They also said that for now water had been fully restored as from the afternoon of March 12.
“TCM had a meeting with representatives of the local business community and mines on March 12 during which a technical committee was formed to assist in the sustainable supply of water. The team will ensure that all issues pertaining to disruptions of services are resolved and the water treatment and waste-water treatment plants are operated by trained and competent personnel.”
