Tshwane metro has admitted to losing about eight billion litres of water in the previous financial year to leaks and pipe bursts.
That amounts to about 27,89 percent of total water throughout, according to utility services MMC Darryl Moss.
“Water leaks have been a major headache for us,” he told Rekord. “But plans to reduce this are already afoot.”
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Two major projects are already underway for leak detection and repair.
“One is in the north and the other in the east – both areas of high leakage.
“We are also installing additional pressure control valves to reduce high pressures in some areas.
Moss blamed the water leaks and pipe bursts on ageing infrastructure.
“Many of our pipelines are overdue for replacement. We have budgeted about R70 million in this financial year for pipe replacement, particularly where asbestos cement pipes are still in place.”
A popular gripe of residents is how long metro repair teams would take to fix any leaking pipes. In some cases, leaks would go unattended for anything between 48 hours to a week – or longer.
Moss said the metro’s target was to attend to 70 percent of reported water leaks within 48 hours after it was reported.
“However, between July and December last year, we only managed to attend to about 50 percent of them within 48 hours,” he said.
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In cases where a resident has reported a water leak and it is not attended, they should make sure to contact their ward councillor, who will be able to follow up on the matter.
“When it comes to the reporting of water leaks or burst pipes, there is an escalation process. It starts with the local ward councillor who must take the matter to the relevant authorities.”
This year will also see the launch of educational campaigns on water conservation at schools.
Moss said the budget for these campaigns had been increased in the current financial year and should yield positive results.
Metro water and sanitation director Frans Mouton blamed the delays in repairing of water leaks within the metro on “insufficient staff”.
“However, motivations for the filling of critical positions have been compiled and submitted, of which some of the positions have been advertised.”
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A recent report by the auditor-general cited backlogs and a growing population in Tshwane as some of the factors responsible for the lag in the delivery of basic services such as water supply.
Mouton said the backlog in the reporting of water losses, as cited in the report, was now being updated monthly.
“These reports were previously done by a service provider. However, due to the size and complexity of the Tshwane water supply system, these reports are currently done in-house, albeit with very limited resources.”
He said the contract for the reports had lapsed and the metro was appointing a new service provider, which would be awarded soon.
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