Metro slammed over ‘massive’ water wastage from unattended leaks in Silverton

Ward 41 Councillor Ben Chapman has criticised the metro over alleged unaccounted-for water losses caused by prolonged, unrepaired burst pipes in Silverton and Meyerspark.

Chapman said several leaks in his ward have been reported repeatedly since late last year, yet no action has been taken.

He added that the metro fails to prioritise fixing of water leaks, only to later claim that the its water reserves are under pressure while thousands of litres are wasted.

“Some leaks, which are prioritised, take over 24 hours or more before they are fixed, while massive litres of water go down the drain, and the biggest problem, they do not shut down the water even after complaints.”

He cited a major leak on Kritzinger Street in Meyerspark as an example, saying it was only repaired a day later while residents endured a water outage.

“The leak was reported directly to council and acknowledged on August 13, around 13:00. When I visited the site at 13:30 the next day, more than 24 hours later, water was still pouring out,” Chapman said.

He estimated that during that period, enough water was wasted to fill a municipal swimming pool.

“I was then told there was a team in Mamelodi and another in Eersterust, which is why they could not attend to the leak,” he added.

Chapman further explained that while a truck eventually arrived on August 14, around 17:00, the water was left running.

“From my experience, if a team and truck are nearby, it takes minutes to drive over and shut off the supply. This delay wasn’t about workload or multiple leaks, it was a conscious decision to let it run for nearly a full day,” he said.

“That’s a massive waste of water and city resources, and it’s simply not acceptable.”

Chapman said the pipe was repaired on August 15, but soon after, a manhole next to the repaired pipe started leaking.

He added that numerous other leaks in Silverton and Meyerspark remain unattended, with water continuing to go to waste.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said multiple pipe bursts in the area are due to aged water infrastructure.

“The water leak in Kritzinger Street was repaired on August 14,” said Mashigo.

He said it was difficult to estimate the water lost due to a pipe burst.

“However, to reduce water wastage due to water leaks, the city has a turnaround time of 48 hours for attending to all water leak service requests.”

Mashigo said the city has plans to replace the old water infrastructure across all regions. The programme has already commenced in critical areas.

“The city has assigned teams that focus on attending to water leaks.”

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