Siza Water makes restoring piped water its top priority

Siza Water is appealing to its North Coast customers to remain patient as it continues non-stop emergency repair work on a number of flood-damaged bulk supply lines, reservoirs and sewer stations.

Temporary repairs have been carried out at a number of sites, from Zimbali, Sheffield and Tinley Manor to inland areas such as Shakaskraal and Etete.

Siza Water group managing director Shyam Misra said the largest challenge preventing them from restoring reliable supply was the shortage of dry sand to support and stabilise temporary pipes.

Conducting site visits with Siza Water on Tuesday, the Courier visited Sheffield Beach, Shakaskraal, Etete, Tinley Manor and Zimbali.

At Colwyn Drive in Sheffield Beach, two roads had been partially washed away and, as a result, bulk supply lines were damaged. These have been repaired temporarily.

At Shakaskraal supply lines were damaged when the uMhlali River flooded and the reservoir could not be filled. A damaged line at Etete is to undergo a cross-connection between the Etete Honolulu reservoir and Shakaskraal.

Contractors were on site on Tuesday digging trenches and welding the piping together.

Once complete, a line between 400-500m will be installed to allow for water to be pumped to Shakaskraal.

The Shakaskraal reservoir is currently inaccessible though and unable to be filled manually by water trucks because of the water-logged road.

On average a water truck weighs 18 tons and, with the added load of water, reaches 30 tons.

Toward the coast at Tinley Manor, the local reservoir’s driveway is undergoing compaction to make it accessible. Once done, the reservoir will be manually refilled.

The bulk supply line which feeds the Tinley Manor reservoir runs through Colwyn Drive and was damaged at the uMhlali River Mouth. River conditions do not allow for this line to be replaced.

Once the river subsides, Misra said they would lay a new line.

The reservoir is at 50% capacity, and once accessible, trucks will fill it manually.

At Zimbali, efforts are being made to temporarily repair a supply line damaged when a hillside gave way.

Sewer networks along the coastal strip of Siza’s service area remain largely unaffected, however inland sewer networks at Shakaskraal, Nkobongo and Shayamoya are unable to feed back to the Frasers waste water treatment plant where water is treated and converted to potable water.

In some cases these sewer networks had been damaged extensively.

“We appeal to clients to bear with us as we continue to work to restore services,” Misra said.

“On Monday night (April 11) when the storms hit, our teams went into crisis mode attempting to source materials for emergency repairs,” he said, adding that with the Easter weekend approaching getting their hands on materials proved difficult.

In many cases, teams carrying out repairs had been working 12-hour shifts.