Umgeni Water should have some idea early next week of the root cause of the severe interruption to water supplies in and around Durban.
The water utility’s spokesman Shami Harichunder said that by this morning an appointed contractor would have completed dismantling the failed shaft pump at Durban Heights Water Works, which led to the disruptions that could last five weeks.
The pump would then be taken to Johannesburg.
“Work on refurbishment of this pump is due to begin (tomorrow),” he said.
Meanwhile, environmental and intelligence expert Professor Anthony Turton pointed out the vulnerability of water infrastructure, “whether it’s attacked or not”.
He noted that during July’s unrest, there had even been an attack on a water facility.
“The area affected is an indication of that extreme vulnerability, whether deliberate or not. That’s for the Hawks to investigate,” he said.
Umgeni Water did not respond to queries about the possibility of sabotage to the infrastructure, which is 200m underground, about 13m long and weighs about a ton.
“Dismantling of it involves removing various sections, one at a time,” said Harichunder.
He said the entire project, from the removal of the shaft pump to dismantling of it; transporting it to a workshop in Johannesburg; diagnosing the cause of failure; and, refurbishment and re-installation would take five weeks.
“Umgeni Water has provided an undertaking that it will do everything possible to try to shorten this period so that potable water production at Durban Heights Water Works can return to normal quickly.”
On the ground, the Independent on Saturday found that in Phoenix, the ongoing water outages had left residents frustrated as they battled to perform daily routines and keep businesses running.
Small restaurant owner Ayoob Ebrahim said it had been difficult to operate without water.
“We cannot function properly without water and it is a struggle to keep the cooking machines operating, since most of them require water to operate,” said Ebrahim.
“We had to postpone deep cleaning the cooking equipment yesterday because we had to get our own water to clean from home and water tankers only arrived late,” he said.
To get water for drinking and washing hands, he now stocks it in small containers as a backup.
“I did not expect a water outage on Monday. As a back-up, I now keep water in small containers to help with basic stuff such as washing hands while working and for toilet use.
“It is depressing because the kitchen staff often use water to wash hands in between preparing meals and marinating chicken. We’ve had to work until late to clean the equipment. In our industry it is very difficult to live without water,” he added.
Kitchen manager Shabaan Yunus said two industrial ovens were destroyed when they ran dry because they needed water to operate.
“We had a flame coming out the machine and one of the staff members had to use an emergency exit,” said Yunus.
At his home in Bambayi, he said, he and his community had to wake up early in the morning to store water to drink.
“We have to go to other areas to get it,” he said.
At a nearby supermarket, manager Ashley Ramdin said he would be ordering water to meet the demand from buyers.
Thousands of homes have been affected in areas including uMlazi; Folweni; Nsimbini; Phoenix; Sunningdale; North of Durban; Trenance; Mountview Reservoir; and, Ntuzuma, where water supply, when not interrupted, comes out at low pressure.
The Independent on Saturday