Persistent pipe failures frustrate residents
Despite many calls made to get the problem solved, residents feel ignored as they continue to face water shortages.
Residents of Wildebraam Street and surrounds are living in a state of constant anxiety and mounting frustration due to repeated pipe bursts and poor workmanship by contractors allegedly appointed by Johannesburg Water (JW).
What began as a single water leak has spiralled into a widespread infrastructure failure affecting households, damaging driveways, flooding homes and leaving roads impassable.
According to Dena Nadauld, the area’s water infrastructure, which is comprised of asbestos cement pipes believed to be over 50 years old, is failing under pressure.
“We moved here in 1980, and the same pipe is still in place,” she explained. “Instead of replacing it properly, they patch and patch. A week later, it’s leaking again.”
The first major leak was reported on February 27, shortly after it had been repaired. Water flooded into a resident’s home again when the same spot began leaking anew. On May 12, a burst pipe was reported at number 46, and by the next day, water was gushing out onto the road. Although JW attempted to repair the pipe, a freshwater leak appeared on June 2, forcing further excavation.
A string of similar incidents followed:
On May 29, an excavator was dispatched, but residents reported that they were left with muddy water due to an incomplete flush after the new pipe was installed. On May 31, a new leak emerged outside number 42. Val John, resident at number 36, reported water flowing into her garage at 02:11. While repairs were underway the next morning, another section burst, damaging underground cables and causing power outages in the area. On June 6, another burst that had been fixed a while ago started leaking again, making the situation worse.
Also read: Couple has the blues from potentially contaminated tap water
JW released a media statement on Tuesday, June 10, acknowledging an unplanned water interruption. A water tanker was provided, and contractors were reportedly on scene, but residents raised concerns as they said that the contractors were seen lying around on the grass instead of working. Residents are now living in fear because they do not know when the next pipe is going to burst.
The Roodepoort Northsider visited the area on June 4 while contractors were fixing the pipe outside John’s house. Nadauld took the journalists down the street, showing them the number of dug trenches where pipe bursts had previously occurred and were left open either to ongoing repairs or simply because backfilling was never done.
“We’ve paid over R6 000 to fix our driveway multiple times,” she says. “And if it wasn’t for our kind neighbour doing it at half the cost, it would’ve been double.”
In total, the Northsider counted seven open trenches across Wildebraam and Madeliefie streets alone before the other pipe bursts that have recently occurred. Trees have been damaged and left unbalanced when contractors tried to gain access to other pipe bursts, and residents say that sometimes network cables are also disturbed, as contractors recently replaced a fibre cable manhole after it was damaged when they tried to fix a pipe leak.
“If they just replaced the whole piping system properly, it would cost less than coming here every week. This is no way to live,” Nadauld expresses.
The Northsider contacted JW’s communications officer for comment on this issue, and despite being given a deadline date, no response, apart from the matter having been escalated, was received at the time of print.
Residents continue to share that contractors are constantly on site working on the leaks, with bursts occurring at every fix attempt. An update from JW will be provided once received.
