Residents have been without running water for four days amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While residents have been advised to wash their hands regularly, some residents are unable to do so.

The Steve Tshwete Local Municipality said the two water supply pipelines conveying raw water from the Middelburg Dam to Vaalbank Water Purification Works burst last Saturday.

“The alternative 400mm pipeline from Pienaarsdam was used to supply raw water to Vaalbank Water Purification Works. The volume of raw water conveyed was, however, insufficient to satisfy the water demand to the whole of Middelburg and Mhluzi. The water supply system was still recovering from the effects of last week’s load shedding events, which reduced the volumes of water that could be purified daily.”

One of the pipes was said to have been repaired on Sunday.

The municipality further said the pipe is located in a muddy area making the excavation difficult.

“This prolonged the time taken to complete the repairs, which were eventually completed by the early hours of Tuesday 17, having worked overnight. The pipeline is now being recommissioned and sufficient quantities of water will now be purified and pumped to the different water supply zones within Middelburg and Mhluzi. It is expected that the water supply system will take at least 24-36 hours to normalise.”