The City of Tshwane has adopted a phased approach to roll out the much-anticipated provision of water supply through taps to residents in Hammanskraal over a period of four months.
Municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said all hands are on deck for various Tshwane teams to ensure that clean, potable piped water was provided to residents starting from October.
He said the City’s phased approach was informed by the planning, design as well as the construction of the infrastructure.
Those living in the area closer to the water distribution storage point will be the first to receive water next month, followed by the next group in February 2025, the third phase will be implemented in April 2025 and the last one in June 2025.
The water supply from Klipdrift Water Treatment Plant was initially promised to start in September this year after the plant upgraded from 42 to 92 megalitres a day.
The water supply is expected to come as a relief to locals who have for decades been subjected to poor quality of water due to Rooiwal wastewater treatment’s lack of capacity to purify waste water.
Rooiwal has repeatedly been blamed for the sludge or effluent being discharged into the Apies River, which in turn supplied water to Temba water treatment plant, used for purifying water for Hammanskraal residents.
Mashigo said among the progress work done by the municipality ahead of piped water supply, was the audit of water meters.
He said meters will measure the amount of water used by households and businesses in order for the city to calculate a reliable water bill.
“The audit has revealed that of the 37 000 meters checked in the area, 23 000 were in working order, while 14 000 were faulty. The city is currently replacing the faulty meters and this exercise will have no cost implications to those customers with such meters,” he said.
Other strides made by the City, he said, included the scouring of the network by the water distribution team based in Region 2.
“This is an ongoing function that enables the removal of sediments in the pipelines and for the maintenance teams to effect any repair work that is needed. They will continue to be deployed to attend to possible issues of leaks and broader upkeep duties that call for immediacy,” he said.
This week the City continued with registration of the qualifying indigent applicants in the area to assist those who can’t afford to pay for municipal services such as water and electricity.
Mashigo said: “The public is informed that on weekdays, those who need information about the indigent programme should visit the Temba urban council office and Mandela office. Running parallel with the roadshow, the City has embarked on a billing outreach programme,” he said.
Pretoria News