Though most residents have been getting at least a semi-constant supply of municipal water since the good rainfall in the catchment area in December made the Kowie River flow strongly over the Waters Meeting weir, we are still experiencing a dire water shortage.
The pumps at the weir pump to both the water treatment works and to the Sarel Hayward storage dam, which is not on the river itself. It is going to take a long time to fill the dam, which was below what is considered empty.
We are also getting water from the 2ML reverse osmosis plant supplied by Quality Filtration Systems and the 1ML plant more recently set up by Nuwater at the Wharf Street bend.
Together, these still fall far short of Port Alfred’s daily water demand, so any loss of water is tragic.
A burst pipe on the main line from the water treatment works to town early last Thursday affected residents in Station Hill, the East Bank and CBD last week.
Later that same morning, contractors digging trenches for Herotel internet fibre hit a water mains in Anglers Way, resulting in yet more water loss.
Who knows how many thousands of litres of water have been lost through such incidents. Sometimes there is no blame to be laid for a burst pipe, but other times it happens through a sheer lack of maintenance, or because damage has been done as happened when a municipal grader gouged too deep on a dirt road and burst a pipe in Forest Downs in late December.
Two hours after the pipe had been gushing water down the street, municipal workers had still not turned off the supply to effect repairs.
Compounding the actual burst pipe is the slow response of the municipality to attend to such matters. It displays an appalling disregard.
The situation was even worse when the trench diggers for Herotel hit that pipe in Anglers Way last week. Border Internet regional growth manager Anne Bhagwan didn’t mince words in laying the blame squarely on the municipality’s shoulders for being unhelpful in providing infrastructure plans in the first place – to see exactly where pipes are placed to avoid damaging them – and to make matters worse, she said municipal water superintendent Enoch Jobela had even refused to come assist and turn off the water.
To put this in perspective, last year – for the fourth consecutive year – the auditor general highlighted shocking material water losses suffered by the municipality, amounting to 43% of total water purchased by consumers, in money value R20.2-million.
The AG attributed losses to leaks, burst pipes, reservoir overflows, metering inefficiencies, meter faults and unauthorised and unmetered consumption.
– Jon Houzet
