Pipe repairs a ‘plaster on a bleeding wound’
More than 3300 metres of water pipes in Hout Bay have been replaced with a further 2300 metres set to be done soon, says the City, but the project has yet to stop the pipe bursts plaguing the community.
On Wednesday October 30, a burst in a 225mm Valley Road pipe sent water streaming down the road and left Victorskloof, Kenrock and Valley roads and parts of Disa River Road without water.
On Saturday October 26, two separate bursts were reported in Hout Bay, one in Scott Road and another at the corner of Main and Chestnut roads, but they were repaired on the same day.
The following day, a pipe burst in Lierman's Road, Llandudno, and was repaired, said the City.
“While there were no reported bursts in Hangberg, the area may have experienced a water disruption during the period when these three bursts were repaired,” said mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien.
Pipe bursts have been common in Hout Bay in recent years (“More water pipe bursts in Hout Bay,” Sentinel News, April 19, 2024), and earlier this year, the City launched the second phase of a R7 million project to replace 3.3km of water pipes there (“City replacing ageing water pipes,” Sentinel News, March 22, 2024).
Dr Badroodien said all pressure management and inspections on the pipes were done manually.
“The pressure-management upgrade of the supply links is a medium-term project, which has been in process since 2018/2019,” he said.
Abel Diedericks, of Hangberg, said Hout Bay’s water woes reminded him of load shedding.
“This is actually worse because with load shedding you know when it’s going off. With the pipe burst, you just see your water is put off, and then it takes hours to repair, and we must sit and wait.”
He said he appreciated the City’s efforts but called them a “plaster on a bleeding wound”.
“They making no impact because it seems like the problems are getting worse rather than better. They fix one area, the other area then starts and it goes on like that.”
Business owner Micheal Rollins said the problem should have been fixed by now with the millions of rand the City had spent on it.
“There was lots of money spent already trying to repair the pipes. It’s not just the pipes that need to be repaired but the roads and the sidewalks that get dug up for repairs to happen.
“I’ve seen brand new roads and sections that were ripped up again to replace or fix a pipe that had already been repaired. That is wasting money, time and effort.”
Dr Badroodien said Hout Bay needed a high-pressure reticulation system because of the high elevation of many of its homes.
“Ageing water pipes are no longer able to withstand high pressure regulated and stabilised in sections by pressure valves. While the more effective pipe-replacement solution is being phased in, much of the ageing system and interconnected network of water pipes remains under pressure and is prone to pipe bursts.”
Dr Badroodien said maintenance teams were dispatched as soon as they were alerted to water supply disruptions to fix the problems in the shortest possible time.
