Rand Water's operational general manager Macdonald Mkhize warns of the dangers of building on water supply pipelines

RELATED LINKS: Burst water pipe floods Meredale A BURST water main in Meredale, south of the city centre, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has caused havoc for local residents and motorists. Read more Water back on tap after valve burst WATER has been restored in all the areas that were affected by the ruptured water valve that flooded Meredale, in the south of the city, in the early hours of yesterday morning. Read more Pipe 'sprung a leak' RAND Water has completed an investigation into what triggered a water pipe in Meredale to burst and cause flooding, which damaged several homes in the area. Read more

Houses in Dlamini built very close to the water supply line

'Building on water servitudes could risk lives' Rand Water and the City of Johannesburg have joined forces to find a solution to stop communities building on or near water servitudes. July 31, 2006 By Emmanuel Mulaudzi SEVERAL communities in Johannesburg have built on or near water servitudes – a potentially dangerous situation – warns Rand Water, the City's bulk water supplier. Officials from Rand Water led a tour of several Johannesburg hotspots on Thursday, 27 July to point out the possible hazards to residents. "If the pipe bursts, people run the risk of loss of life," Rand Water's operational general manager Macdonald Mkhize told a group of Dlamini residents. Several settlements – some formal, some informal – have built houses on top of water supply pipes, making it difficult for engineers and maintenance teams to access the pipes. Rand Water is working with the City of Johannesburg to find solutions to the encroachments. The tour started in Pimville, Soweto, where houses were built on top of a major pipe. Though Rand Water managed to divert the pipe around the development, along Modjadji Road, this is not possible in all cases. In the informal settlement in Dlamini, for example, makeshift houses have been erected on a supply pipe that provides the City of Tshwane with water. "The whole area is encroached," said Mkhize. The City of Johannesburg is assisting in finding alternative space for the residents. Some people make unauthorised connections to the water supply, not realising the danger from water under high pressure in the pipes. "This activity is not only deemed criminal, but also affects the quality of water downstream end users in the supply chain," said Mzwandile Mthunzi, who works in Rand Water's community education projects. "Some people have extended their yards to close passages [between the houses] to avoid criminal activities," added Mthunzi. The company has embarked on several education campaigns, setting aside R2,6-million to run projects informing residents of the dangers of encroachment, according to media relations officer, Tendani Tsedu. Various workshops and awareness campaigns are being run to inform communities about the position of pipelines as well as the dangers of building near them. In addition, the company has erected large signboards notifying local communities of the infrastructure in the area. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za