EVEN though it is Water Month, eThekwini Municipality’s recent plea to residents to use water sparingly during water outages comes amid ongoing issues, including leaks, and broken and ageing infrastructure, that leave residents with dry taps for extended periods.

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On March 12, a 400/450mm diameter pipeline ruptured in Prospecton, causing supply disruptions in several areas, including Isipingo Beach, Isipingo Rail, Isipingo Hills and Athlone Park.

Another system failure at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works caused supply disruptions that saw many taps running dry.
Municipal executive committee (Exco) members, André Beetge and Yogis Govender, said the disruption was triggered by a major technical failure on Aqueduct 3, one of the four primary pipelines transporting raw water from Nagel Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works. During routine maintenance, the control valve got stuck in the closed position, preventing water from flowing through the pipeline.

“During attempts to isolate the section, the isolation shut-off valve also seized in the closed position, further complicating the situation. The valve involved weighs about one ton, and repair operations were significantly hampered by ageing infrastructure, estimated to be more than 50 years old, as well as heavy siltation, which initially caused crane lifting operations to fail,” they said in a joint statement.

Specialist divers, cranes and heavy rigging equipment were ultimately required to access and manually open the valve.

At an urgent meeting convened by eThekwini Mayor Cryil Xaba on March 14, with the Exco and executives from Umngeni-uThukela Water (UUW), after many parts of the City experienced outages, it was revealed that the outage resulted in a reduction of about 150 megalitres of water per day. Xaba apologised to residents affected by the disruption, saying the City was working to balance water supply across impacted areas.

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“The situation was beyond the City’s control as the incident occurred within the UUW system,” said Xaba.

While repairs have been completed, the treatment capacity restored, and reservoir levels are improving, in a statement eThekwini said the system has not yet fully recovered.

“The current phase of restoration focuses on stabilising and replenishing reservoirs and pipelines across the network. To support system recovery, the municipality will continue implementing its water rationing plan to maintain stability in the network and ensure fair water distribution across affected areas. Residents in some areas may therefore continue to experience intermittent supply or low water pressure as the network stabilises,” read the statement.

Over 50% of all eThekwini water is classified as non-revenue water as it is unaccounted for. It is mostly lost through leaks and illegal connections.

eThekwini said water tankers will continue servicing affected communities.

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