Johannesburg Water continues to delay repairing two-year-old Parktown water leak
The two-year-old Parktown water leak is in the valve section exposed to the traffic load.
In a city facing water challenges and frequent water interruptions, one would expect burst water pipes and aging water infrastructure to be urgently attended to.
Last year, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Gauteng Office of the Premier, City of Johannesburg (CoJ), and Rand Water attended a meeting to address increasingly frequent interruptions to residences’ daily water supply.
Read more: Rand Water: Encroachment is a danger to society
This causes great hardship for residents and impedes economic growth in the city.
Resident Maria Mena approached the publication on November 11 last year about a two-year-old water leak on Queens Road in Parktown.
“Clean water has been gushing out unabated day and night, presumably from a burst or vandalized water pipe under the asphalt, consequently eroding the road which can only be described as an accident or tragedy waiting to happen.”
Mena added that the complex trustees have, over a lengthy period, communicated with the CoJ and Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), but to no avail.
Also read: Water supply disruption hits Hyde Park, Dunkeld, and Illovo
Johannesburg Water’s (JW) spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala noted, on November 22, that the leakage was attended to previously. “We have three valves on the road reserve, after being repaired, they leak again. The leak is in the valve section exposed to the traffic load. The road around the leaking valves is damaged.”
Shabalala added that the permanent solution would be to dig around the valves and repair or replace the ones that are faulty and rebuild a cover around them that will be able to absorb and have more resistance to the traffic loads and can still be functional.
JRA’s regional operations head of department Khayalethu Gqibitiole confirmed: “The JRA team visited the site on November 15 and conducted an inspection which revealed a damaged valve and leaking pipe for which JW is responsible. Potholes were also identified but can only be filled after fixing the leak.”
The publication reached out to JW again, to confirm if they had completed the work they promised to do on the site. Shabalala said on December 9: “The repairs have not yet been completed.”
The publication will continue to be in contact with JW.
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