FREQUENT water pipe bursts as a result of ailing infrastructure have left residents across Durban North high and dry.

In recent weeks, bursts on Danville Avenue, Chelsea Drive, Umhlanga Rocks Drive and Waterkant Road led to water outages and thousands of litres being wasted.

What is more, residents decried the length of time it takes for the eThekwini Municipality to switch off the water supply when a burst occurs, as was the case in Chelsea Drive last week.

Compounding the problem is that the City loses more than 50% of its water supply due to water loss, vandalism and theft.

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Speaking on the burst on Chelsea Drive, resident Roberto Cameron said it took several hours for the City to attend to the burst pipe.

“Last week yet another water pipe burst on Chelsea Drive, releasing millions of litres of water. The issue was reported early in the morning just before 07:30, but it wasn’t until 16:30 that workers arrived on site, unprepared as the water had not been turned off. It took until 21:15 for the appropriate personnel to arrive and open the fire hydrants to drain the system.

“By 21:50, trucks were on-site to address the problem, and by 23:00, a massive hole had been dug to remove the damaged pipe, which had already undergone several repairs. Water pressure was restored a few hours later. Residents understand that ageing infrastructure will inevitably lead to issues, but their main concerns are the Municipality has no plan to upgrade the current infrastructure. There are not enough teams available to address issues promptly. Once an issue is fixed, it takes weeks to repair the road. It takes months to remove the rubble left from repairs,” he said.

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Another resident, Carl du Preez echoed those sentiments.

“This isn’t a once off on Chelsea Drive, and as ratepayers we are questioning the response time and work being done. To see so much water being wasted when we are told to conserve water is deeply disappointing. Despite this our water bills remain high and this continues to happen. We are extremely angry over how long it took the City to switch off the water which led to millions of litres wasted and it feels like that is deliberate,” he said.

According to the eThekwini Municipality’s website, the turnaround times to fix a burst pipe are within 24 hours, while small leaks should be repaired within 48 hours.

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