Urgent repair scheduled for long-standing Rubenstein Drive water leak
One resident alleges that despite reporting the issue repeatedly to the ward councillor and the metro, nothing has been done.
The metro has refuted that it was instantly made aware of a water leak that allegedly started on October 15 in Moreleta Park, in the east of Pretoria.
It said this leak was only logged onto their records on November 8 and that it is currently dealing with a high volume of water leak service requests, which have prolonged the turnaround time to repairs in the metro.
The refute by the metro over being aware of the water leak on Blouhaak Road and Rubenstein Drive in the east of Pretoria last month comes at a time when residents in parts of Tshwane have faced interrupted water supply for weeks.
According to residents, this leak has been left unattended since October 15, leading to concerns, more especially as water services remain disrupted of late; the metro facing Level 1 restrictions while also losing about 7 billion litres of water a month.
One resident alleged that despite reporting the issue repeatedly to the ward councillor and the metro nothing had been done to attend to the concerning leak, one of about 2 272 reported water leaks in Tshwane that remain unattended.
This is as the metro has received a report of 5 058 leaks in all seven regions within recent times.
Marianne Steyn said it was worrying to see water going to waste while Gauteng is facing water challenges.
“Residents are urged to save water and to use water sparingly but the very same people fail to fix the water leak.”
Steyn said she travelled to Cape Town on October 28 while the water was still leaking and going straight to the drain and when she returned on November 9, nothing had been done.
Another resident Deirdre van Helsdingen said the water has been running down the drain for about five weeks already.
“While the city says people must preserve water due to being on Level 1 water restrictions, they fail to address this and prevent clean water from going to waste.
There’s no indication of when it will be fixed, while I reported it on October 15”.
The repeated pipe bursts and leaks in Tshwane have reignited discussions about the need for long-term solutions to Tshwane’s ageing water infrastructure.
Recently, the metro said it was losing at least 7.8 million kl every month, compounding the city’s water woes.
Tshwane, along with all other municipalities in Gauteng, have been placed under Level 1 water restrictions in response to the dire straits facing Rand Water, and a bid to avert a potential water crisis.
The water utility revealed that it continues to be under severe strain from high water consumption.
The metro has acknowledged the challenges and pointed out ageing infrastructure as a cause of these persistent leaks and bursts.
It said the common causes of water leaks or bursts are a combination of many factors such as ageing infrastructure, illegal connections, water theft through fire hydrants, theft and vandalism to the water infrastructure.
Ward councillor Andrew Lesch said he reported the matter personally to the city and has been doing regular follow-ups on the matter.
However, metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the matter was only reported and logged by the city on Friday, November 8.
“There is a high volume of water leak service requests, so the city’s turnaround time to water leak repairs is negatively affected,” Mashigo said.
He said the water leak was on the priority list and was to be attended to by no later than this weekend.
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