eThekwini ‘attending’ to water disruptions in city
eThekwini Municipality says it's attending to
prolonged water disruptions affecting areas southwest of Durban.
Moseley, parts of Northdene, parts of Malvern and Queensburgh have had an intermittent supply due to the Southern Aqueduct not having enough pressure to supply the Northdene 3 Reservoir which feeds the Firwood Reservoir.
Ward 63 Councillor Chris Van den Berg said the situation in Queensburgh is dire.
"People haven't received water for 60 days this year alone. They don't have water currently, and they last had water last Sunday."
The city said in a statement that it is assessing ways to implement medium to long-term interventions to the challenge.
They include resizing the reservoir pumps and the construction of an elevated tank at the Firwood Reservoir to feed the high-level zones.
READ: Ramaphosa: Water indaba must be solution driven
However, Van den Berg said more urgent measures are needed.
"What the water department actually needs to do is deal with all the outstanding water leaks. If that's done, it'll get more water to more people, more often.
"It can potentially reduce the rationing, but also it'll then put water into people's houses, which they then can pay for, and that will generate an added income into the city."
The low pressure affects pumping operations to the Firwood Reservoir, resulting in low storage and supply to high-lying areas.
The water level at the Firwood Reservoir then drops to an insufficient level to provide the pressure required to deliver water to high-lying areas.
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