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EXTRACT FROM OUDE WESTHOF NEWSLETTER –
SEPTEMBER 2021
(Downloaded and circulated with the kind permission of Oude Westhof MHOA.)
Water woes in Oude Westhof
Bursting pipes and the current water supply problems in Oude Westhof are mostly caused by ageing pipes and connections between the main lines and houses in the area.
Mr. Ed van Albertyn from the city’s Water Department, explains that the approved pipes and connections that were used when developing the infrastructure more than 20 years ago are ageing and becoming brittle and prone to breaking.
Problems will increase and it might become necessary to upgrade the system in future. This can be a large and costly project. Fortunately the city is responsible for the infrastructure and maintenance and will have to carry the cost.
The fact that most of Oude Westhof ‘s water supply is dependent on only one main supply pipe further contributes to the problem. The result is that that most of the neighbourhood loses its water supply when a leak necessitates a shut-down.
The theory that leaks and breaking pipes are caused by fluctuations in our water pressure are not true says Mr Albertyn. Our water comes from three different reservoirs namely the Welgemoed Upper and Lower reservoirs as well as the Bellville reservoir on the hill above Majik Forest. These reservoirs are all located higher than our neighbourhood which means that water runs down at a constant pressure and does not have to be pumped upwards.
The quickest and best solution for a water problem is to report it immediately on the city’s C3 system.
The more reports, the faster the problem will be attended to. (See “How to report water leaks and other faults” in this edition.) Linked to the frequent water leaks are the consequent damage of our road surfaces. The company responsible for these repairs had to be replaced causing a backlog in repair work. However a new company has been contracted and is catching up. The Roads Department will also assist in future to clear the backlog.
Please note that infrastructure and its maintenance and repair is the responsibility of the City of Cape Town municipality and not that of OWMHOA members.
Is our dam going to break? This leak in the dam wall of the Riesling Dam is getting bigger after
How to report water leaks and other faults
Complaining has never been easier than with the City of Cape Town’s C3 Electronic Reporting System.
The systems ensure that your complaints and requests are recorded, tracked and reported. From potholes, water leaks, power outages, dead streetlights, trees that need pruning etc. etc., can be reported through the system. To log a request or complaint on the C3 Notification system you can do one of the following:
• Call 086 010 3089 – City’s Call Centre
• SMS 31373 (no more than 160 characters)
• Email: contactUS@capetown.gov.za
• Or log on directly
to https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/ServiceRequests/Pages/default.aspx
You are then given a reference number, which allows you to follow up on the complaint. The notification will be closed as soon as the complaint has been dealt with. The system enables the City to measure how long it took to deal with complaints, as an indicator of service delivery success and improvement over time.
You can report a problem more than once and in fact the system escalates problems in relation to the number of fault reports received.
The text above is a working transcription. For the legal or audited version, use the PDF.