Old pipes leak thousands of litres

LITRES of clean, potable water went down the drain after a section of piping burst repeatedly in Kildare Park on the corner of President Swart and Apollo Avenue last week.

The first leak was reported on Tuesday, and municipal workers were dispatched the same day to fix the problem.

Workers returned to the scene after the same pipe sprung a second leak on Wednesday, spending most of the day doing repairs.

However, the second fix was also short-lived, and after knocking off for the day the pipe burst for the third time a few metres away, and leaked until Thursday morning.

Workers were dispatched once again, and the problem was finally resolved on Thursday afternoon around 5pm.

The leaks flooded the park as the water flowed into a nearby storm-water drain.

Over the three days, residents in portions of Kildare and Grantham Park were left without water while repairs were being done.

It is believed the cause of the leaks were due to wear and tear of the old asbestos-cement (AC) pipes.

The project to replace these pipes to solve the water and sewerage problems has remained on the municipality’s agenda for the last few years, and an amount of R15-million was budgeted for Empangeni in the 2015/16 budget.

In a separate incident, a leak at Hillview Complex continued unabated from Saturday until Wednesday.

The leak reportedly stemmed from the adjacent Department of Transport building after a pipe disengaged from the municipal meter due to a loose connection.