Water pipe replacement to continue in the north of Pretoria

The Tshwane metro’s water and sanitation department is currently replacing the asbestos pipes with UPVC pipes in the north of Pretoria as part of its pipe replacement programme that started earlier this year in the east.

The ageing infrastructure and constant pipe bursts have been a yearly concern for residents and business owners alike as they lose hundreds of rands during water outages, often without prior notice.

Metro’s spokesperson Selby Bokaba highlighted that according to the water supply by-laws, the engineer may, in an emergency, interrupt the supply of water to any premises without prior notice.

He noted that every premises that requires, for the purpose of the work or activity undertaken on the premises, a continuous supply of water must have a water storage tank.

“It must comply with the specification for water storage tanks as stipulated in SANS 10252-1 and have a capacity of not less than 24 hours of water supply calculated as the quantity required to provide for the average daily consumption, in which tank water can be stored for periods when the continuous supply is disrupted.”

While the metro had acknowledged that it was aware of the constant water leaks in the region specifically in Pretoria North, Bokaba explained that water leaks are caused by the ageing infrastructure, mainly the asbestos-cement pipe that supplies the area.

“Water and sanitation section attends to water leakages in the area as and when they occur – which is almost on a daily basis.

“We have to isolate the leak by closing the supply of water to allow the team to repair the pipes.”

Due to the water cuts, a north resident George Luies Hout added that he had to make three insurance claims for the geyser element since 2019, and two weeks ago his solar geyser blew.

“This is a costly claim and should not be occurring so often.

“We have an issue with the water supply very often but we also see water running down the road as we have constant leaks, which leaves us without water all day and night,” Hout said.

“They started replacing the pipes over a month ago in my area but it seems like they do not know what they are doing as they leave the trenches open and do not return to close them.”

Rekord reported that the project to replace the ageing infrastructure that existing information shows is more than 50 years old on average, would take 12 months to complete.

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said earlier this year that R1.2-billion was earmarked for refurbishing ageing water and electricity infrastructure in the municipality’s new financial year budget, which came into effect in July.

Water leaks and pipe bursts can be reported to: waterleaks@tshwane.gov.za, via the Tshwane call centre on 012 358 9999 or on 080 111 1556.

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