Letter: Why don’t we have water?

Glenhills resident Omesh Maharaj writes:

I am writing this letter as a last resort, because all other avenues have been exhausted regarding our water issues in Glenhills, especially Sagittarius Close and Sagittarius Street (E Section, Glenhills).

For the past 20 years or so our water gets shut off every single morning for a few hours.

iLembe District Municipality (IDM) is unable to give me an answer for the reason. Lately our water gets shut off for longer periods each day. For the past month now, we don’t have a drop of water coming out of the taps.

Each time we phone the call centre, they say the plumbers are looking into it.

Our Ward 26 councillor Mr T Nxele and PR councillor Mr R Pooran have been trying their level best to assist the residents but to no avail.

Our councillors are in constant contact with the residents via WhatsApp and they’ve also messaged the municipal manager and technical director, but they don’t respond to messages.

The councillors even asked IDM to send water tankers to us but that has fallen on deaf ears. IDM only gives excuses upon excuses as to why these two streets in particular don’t have water, even though the other streets around us have water. And we’re still getting water bills from IDM.

I pray that my cry for help gets the attention of the senior officials and hopefully the mayor.

Operations Manager for KwaDukuza (and Ndwedwe areas) Elias Bhengu replies:

It is important to first mention that iLembe District Municipality is currently implementing a pipe replacement project in Glenhills while KwaDukuza Local Municipality is, through a contractor, reinstating/replacing roads in the area as well.

As such, water supply to Glenhills is continuously being interrupted due to the repairs that are currently taking place as part of the new pipe replacement project (which also includes repairing leaks on the old reticulation) and the roads replacement project by the local municipality.

To conduct pipe replacement and leak repairs, isolation has to take place and isolation is currently at the corner of Townview Drive and Jupiter Street.

Unfortunately, this isolates the entire area of Glenhills, and Townview areas particularly Court Road, Sagittarius Street and Murugan Road.

The following must also be noted;

• Water supply to Sagittarius Street is through the Pisces pressure reducing valve and Venus drive valve.

• At the corner of Venus and Sagittarius there is an old valve that has collapsed. The team this weekend bypassed the system through a valve at corner of Jupiter and Venus. This bypass assisted in boosting the pressure on Sagittarius Drive. The water interruption in Sagittarius is currently contained. The long-term solution is to replace the collapsed valve and that is still being processed.

• Water supply to Townview is from the same Glenhills supply and if you isolate at the corner of Townview and Jupiter the entire system is isolated, unfortunately. After the repairs most areas are quick to recover but Court Road recovers last. Currently Court Road water supply is normal.

• Murugan Road is affected in the main by sediment and dirt entering the small and old pipes after and during pipe breaks. This is currently being addressed by the mains replacement project.

• The continuous leak repairs assist in speedily reinstating water services in areas where there are interruptions.

• Upon completing the pipe replacement project one of the benefits will be the installation of isolation valves for each route. This will minimize isolating the entire area when repairing leaks. The situation changes every time new leaks develop and need to be repaired, as well as every time the contractors (roads reinstatement contractors) damage pipes.

Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news

Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0