Cape Town – An emergency meeting has been called to discuss the repair of a 250mm main water supply line which burst in George on Sunday in a section running along the Kaaimans Railway Bridge and has affected the town's water supply.
Following talks between the municipality's Civil Engineering Directorate, safety specialist, structural engineer and Garden Route Disaster Management, it has been determined that the damage would take longer than expected to repair.
They investigated access routes to the bridge and completed their final assessment of the safety requirements needed to be put in place before repair work can begin.
Measures need to be implemented along the access pathways from Victoria Bay, the railway line along the bridge and the walkway before workers can be allowed on site.
The repair was scheduled to take 10 days to complete due to the safety precautions and specialists required, as well as a need to only work during the day.
Three water trucks have been stationed in the Wilderness Heights area and are available daily from 6am to 9pm for residents to collect water. The trucks are at the Wilderness Heights shop, on the corner of Silver and Whites roads and Remskoen Road.
The trucks require refilling so if they are not in the vicinity, they would return, the municipality said.
George mayor Melvin Naik said: “Our civil engineering department is doing everything possible to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
"But we really need the co-operation of the water users - if you use less, in fact if you only use what is necessary that is no watering of gardens, filling of pools etc - the department will be able to balance the system of six reservoirs and allow everyone to have water at certain times of the day."