DA Ward Councillor, Deon van der Merwe, told www.mobserver.co.za that after securing an emergency meeting with the Department of Civil Services, the following cutover programme has been tabled for Mineralia.

The cutover will commence in three phases, where areas already equipped with the new PVC pipe system will be attended to first.

Residents are urged to read the following schedule thoroughly:

Starting on Friday, June 10, at 06:00, the municipality will start the cutover process from the old AC pipes to the new uPVC pipes already installed.
This will affect water supply in Verdoorn, Jeppe, Hoog, Mangaan, Essex, Erembee, Frank Bath, Alloy, Nickel, Ferro, Erts, Chroom and Krag Street.

The cutover usually takes two days, therefore the municipality will install JoJo Tanks at designated spots to ensure residents have access to clean water. The locations will be communicated in due course.

Please note, this does not affect Bloekomsig or other parts of Mineralia!

The next phase, which will be in the area between Suiderkruis, Verdoorn and Elektra Street (Coal, Koper, Diamant, Staal, Delwery Street) will start on July 1 when the next financial year starts. There are already blue uPVC pipes installed, but they have not been connected.

Phase Three will cater for Bloekomsig, Kwarts, Jeppe, Hoog, Sasol, Steelpoort, Silver, Gold, Industria, Vanadium and Mercury Street. They still need to install and connect pipes in this area, which is why they are the last phase of the project.

An estimated timeline for Phase Two and Three will be communicated in due course.

The following questions and answers for residents are provided below:

• Why did the municipality wait until now before implementing cutovers and the installation of new uPVC pipes?

A: Pipe bursts and water shortages in the area were never at such an extreme level where it was considered an emergency. The crisis only started recently and the municipality was planning to start implementing the cutovers and installation in the new financial year (July 1). It is also important to note that we are governed by a budget and IDP, to which we are legally bound.

• The water pressure is too high, what is being done and what is the average pressure?

A: Because we still have an old system, we manually regulate and measure water pressure with the valves. This will be solved with the new smart monitoring system that will be installed during the new financial year. The average water pressure is around 5 PSI/bar and is constantly measured.

• Why are the pipes continuously bursting and some repairs only lasting a short amount of time?

A: In short, the AC pipes are very sensitive to low temperatures. This causes them to crack and burst. Rain lasting long into the colder months also plays a role, as this expands and contracts the ground around the pipes, shifting and cracking them. Their old age also contributes to the high level of bursts.

• When will we have water?

A: There is, unfortunately, no straightforward answer as to when. The municipality is trying its best to repair all bursts to restore water pressure. A dedicated team is constantly monitoring the situation to ensure a timeous response and repair time.

“As previously mentioned, the municipality and council are strictly governed by our annual budget and the five-year infrastructure development programme (among other things).

“As we are at the end of both, we are in a difficult position to act as we have limited budget left over to use. (This does not mean we are bankrupt, it means the money allocated for the current 2021/2022 financial year is almost used up).”