Ian Mc Pherson, Llandudno
I’d like to suggest that council have a supervisor/roaming vehicle available to go and turn off the water whenever there is a burst mains, as it takes the construction team hours to be available to repair. Or alternatively give a key to a responsible person, security, police, local plumber, etc. in each community to do this if council can’t afford to have a vehicle/person available.
It goes without
saying that it’s totally mind-blowing that council spends so
much time on marketing the saving of water by switching off dripping taps, yet has no insight into saving thousands of litres wasted daily with unattended burst main water supplies.
* Mayoral committee member for utility services, Ernest Sonnenberg, responds:
The City thanks the resident for the suggestion. A system along the lines of what he described is already in place.
When a report of a fault is received, a first-level responder (i.e. a roving vehicle) will go out to inspect the fault as soon as possible. First-level responders are also able to perform minor repairs. If the repairs required are beyond the capacity of the first responder to fix, they will call in a team with the appropriate expertise and equipment.
In cases where the leak is minor, water supply to the area is often maintained until another team is available to fix the leak (i.e. the leak will be allowed to run in order to maintain water supply to the residents until a fully equipped repair team is available).
If the burst is major, the first responder will turn off the supply at the main ensuring major wastage does not
occur.
Residents can assist by ensuring that their service requests state clearly if the burst occurred on a main or not. This will help us prioritise our response more effectively.
Residents should report burst pipes and leaks to the City’s
call centre at 0860 103 089, via SMS to
31373, or via email to contact.us@capetown.gov.za
