The wheels came completely off the past week as water supply to Standerton on certain days was zilch.
Residents with boreholes in mid-town, AGS Ekklesia, Laerskool Kalie de Haas, Hoërskool Standerton and Meyerville residents came to the rescue, as well as local businesses, that supplied water since Wednesday June 16.
Companies such as Lekwa Bricks, Heymans Kole, Verblyden Slaghuis, Goldi and Clear Water Plumbing proved their worth in gold. At the Indian Centre, locals could fill up containers, while the empty field next to Kasselman Security Services was the place to be for those in the CBD.
Standerton Police, AfriForum, Northern Light Foundation and Tonkin Boerdery were present at the latter.
Langverwyl Boerdery sent a tanker on Friday for the community as well.
Lekwa Clean Up Crew, König Coffee and Ons Radio were also involved in the community-initiative.
In a nutshell, the AC-pipe that supplies water to the treatment plant is old.
Lekwa indicated that it is no longer manufactured, including its fittings and they were engaging with suppliers to visit the site for appropriate fittings.
It was widely understood that no fittings were ordered at that stage and available stock was used.
According to them, neighbouring municipalities were contacted for assistance.
Water trucks were dispatched to several areas in Sakhile, Jojo-tanks filled and hospitals and clinics were given preference.
The crux of the matter was a pipe that burst on June 15 at the Standerton Water Treatment Plant.
According to Lekwa, the depth of the pipe and instability of the soil, were such that the walls of the trench collapsed.
They said the lives of employees were at risk and the team subsequently left the site the previous evening at about 23:00.
The team was back at work the following morning.
Take into account a fault-finding exercise conducted on Tuesday June 15 when a town, reeling under internal load-shedding, had to contend with a power interruption at the B-sub. A Lekwa-team was on site to do fault-finding and more than one vehicle from the electrical department were noticed in town. The supply at watering points also ran dry from time to time and social media played a pivotal part in informing residents of where to have buckets filled.
Repair officially began on June 17.
A post was shared on www.ridgetimes.co.za early on June 18 about a cable fault at the B-substation. The team could not fix it the previous evening, but begin working that morning.
As regards the Water Treatment Plant, it was fixed and up and running and distribution to most areas would have begun on Friday. Lekwa extended their apology to the community.
The Standerton Advertiser sent questions to Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, communications manager of Lekwa, on June 18. Water supply is linked to power supply, and one of the questions to Ms Mtshiselwa was whether a meeting has been scheduled, with Eskom, about the 55NMD.
The other enquiries focused on maintenance done on water pipes, the number of water pipes that need to be replaced and if any contingency plans exist in the event of cable faults.
