Robin Hills residents hit by a new water outage after another pipe burst
Residents in Robin Hills have once again been left without water after a new pipe burst, as repeated infrastructure failures continue to affect the area.
Residents in Robin Hills are once again facing water shortages after a new pipe burst on Pieter Road, leaving large parts of the community without water.
The leak on Pieter Road has affected residents as far as Rooibok Road.
Frustrated residents have now been without a reliable water supply for more than three days, adding to weeks of recurring disruptions in the area.
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The latest burst on the road follows a series of pipe failures that previously left the community without water for more than seven days. The repeated outages have severely affected residents’ daily lives, and some properties were flooded.
Ward 99 councillor Hendrik Bodenstein said the ongoing problem is linked to excessive water pressure in the system. He explained that the area has also suffered at least nine separate bursts in recent weeks.
“All these bursts in this little area happened in a space of a day and a half, and the recent outage happened on May 5,” he said. “Joburg Water said bursts are caused by old infrastructure.
For how long will that be an excuse? If there are old pipes, replace them. If they can see there’s this number of bursts in a single area, they need to prioritise it; otherwise, they’ll be here every second week.
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“Because the Linden 1 and 2 reservoirs are connected, if water flows out of a burst from here, people on the side of Darrenwood might lose water [supply].”
Bodenstein is calling for urgent intervention and long-term upgrades to the water infrastructure to prevent further disruptions. “The problem with the city at this moment is failure to plan. Because there are no contingency plans. If something breaks, it breaks. There’s no backup whatsoever, and that is a problem.”
Questions were sent to the water utility, and they said they will respond within their standard turnaround time, depending on the complexity of the matter and input required from the relevant technical department.
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