It will be another week until the water problems are fixed in eThekwini

IT WILL TAKE FIVE TO SEVEN DAYS for the water supply to areas in the Northern Durban to return to normal.

This was said by the Mayor of Durban, Mr. Cyril Xaba, yesterday at a press conference where he informed the residents of this city about the ongoing challenges that lead to the community living in these areas not having tap water. 

It has been two to three weeks that the community in some areas has no water from the tap.

Xaba said that the large 15 diameter pipe that does a great job for the community in these areas to get water is currently not working.

He went on to say that the Ministry of Water, has been informed about the problem of the green membrane that has blocked the water filters in the Albert Falls Dam, which has led to the fact that the dam fed by the Durban Hieghts Water Treatment Works has a problem with this membrane.

He said that since the situation is being corrected, the Municipality of Thekwini has released 228 water trucks, to supply the community living in areas affected by water.

The affected areas include, Newlands, Verulam, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, Phoenix, Umhlanga and others.

He said the Mgeni-uThukela water supply center uses many methods including drawing water that has passed through the Negle and Nanda dams and cleaned them.

"Before there was a membrane that caused a shortage of water in these areas, the municipality already had its own challenges that prevented other communities from getting water properly. Those challenges are still being addressed," said Xaba.

He said that they expect the complete solution to be brought by the dam that is being built in Mkhomazi which is expected to start working in 2032 but there are other temporary solutions that they have.

He said that since the time for entertainment is approaching, the municipality has monitored the pollution situation of the beaches, by fixing the pipes that carry the sewage and the facilities that clean it to ensure that it does not end up in the sea.

Xaba also announced that there will be a unit responsible for the reading of water and electricity meters, which will make it easier to solve the problems faced by the community, which will start working completely in November.

"We want the challenge to be resolved so that customers end up not knowing who they are dealing with for their problems related to the reading of meters that can be identified on either side."