Cape Town - While the water supply pipe in Blue Downs finally repaired late on Wednesday night and water supply restored, the City is continuing its water supply repairs by conducting a test shutdown in Brown’s Farm and Philippi in preparation for maintenance on a faulty valve on the Faure bulk water supply line.
Water and Waste Mayco member Zahid Badroodien said their teams worked non-stop since Monday to ensure the water supply was restored as quickly as possible to the affected communities of Blue Downs and surrounding areas.
“Water is filling the pipe and the repair is holding. The downstream valve is being opened and the water is feeding into the system,” said Badroodien.
Badroodien said frustrations reached boiling point but they pulled together as a community to support the most vulnerable, especially on Wednesday with the distribution of donated water.
“I want to thank everyone for their immense calm and patience... Personally, as the new mayco member in the Water and Sanitation directorate, there have been many learning lessons for me.
“I will use these to engage with the officials in order to ensure that should such a complex repair occur in the future that we are in a better position to respond in a way that services and protects the dignity of all our residents,” said Badroodien.
After much frustration in the community over the past three weeks, as a result of low water pressure and intermittent water disruptions, Tuscany Crime Watch chairperson and executive member of Tuscany Glen Ratepayers Association, Neil Theys said water was fully restored.
“Although the community is overjoyed to have their water back, there was a lot of unhappiness and questions asked about the situation,” said Theys.
“Why did the first pipe take so long to manufacture and yet the second burst pipe took a period of about two days to be manufactured, installed, repaired and water restored to all communities?”
Meanwhile, the City’s Water and Sanitation Department will today carry out a test shut-down from 10am till 4pm in anticipation of planned maintenance on February 11 till February 13, when the replacement of a faulty isolation valve on the Faure bulk water supply line would be performed.
Badroodien said areas affected by this shutdown included the Brown’s Farm and the Philippi area where residents could expect a reduction in the water pressure or the possible disruption to their water supply due to the shutdown.