Residents in the north unhappy with the workmanship of metro contractors
Customers are not billed or charged for water meter replacements and are encouraged to log a call to have an old or leaking water meter replaced.
A Pretoria North resident is fuming after the Tshwane metro workers left her with a leaking water meter after repairs.
According to Hannes Botha-Schuuman the water meter in his front yard had no issues until it was replaced on July 27 and the earth and rubble dug up to get to the it left behind.
“They did not have the decency to remove the stones and cement that they had dug up and at least leave the ground as they had found it.
“To make matters worse, I had to close my water due to the leak in my yard.”
He said when he reported the problem, he was told “the issue had been escalated”.
Botha-Schuuman posted his frustrations to social media, where another resident in the north said she had been waiting for the metro to repair her paving it destroyed to repair a water leak for over three years.
“Our neighbour’s water pipes run through our yard and when they reported a water issue, the metro dug a hole in our front yard and destroyed the pavement,” said Annemarie de Jager.
De Jager added that her husband had to fill the hole and place bricks on top to allow them to drive in.
“It does not look good and is now different from the rest of the pavement, during the rainy season the bricks fall in, this is a mess.”
Metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the meter was replaced by a contractor because it was an old and the metro would arrange for the rubble to be removed.
He said that the metro has replaced old water meters from time to time since the metered water reticulation network within the municipality existed.
“Water meters have a life span of approximately 10 to 15 years depending on type and quality.
“As a result of wear on the internal measuring elements, water meters generally tend to under-register over time and should therefore be replaced as part of a maintenance programme.
“Not having accurate water meters results in inaccurate billing – and often under-billing, leading to additional queries and complaints from customers.”
He added that water meters remain the responsibility and assets of the municipality.
“Residents are always informed of projects happening in their communities through ward councillors.
“However, water meter replacement is not a community/suburb based project.
“It sometimes happens that whilst attending to a faulty meter in the street/area, the metering team also identifies an old meter and replaces it without having to engage the community.”
According to Bokaba customers are not billed or charged for water meter replacements and are encouraged to report old or leaking meters for replacement.
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