Africa-Press – South-Africa. The City of Cape Town is cautiously returning the bulk water supplies back on after a weekend of maintenance left taps dry in many areas.
“The Water and Sanitation Directorate teams on the ground have been working around the clock to complete the maintenance work on the bulk water pipeline and are now in the process of carefully recharging the bulk supply pipes with water to restore the water supply to the consumers,” the City said in an update on Sunday night.
It will take time for pipes to be filled, and pressure to be normal as pressure is balanced to avoid pipe bursts.
“During this time, residents are asked to please be patient while the supply is restored. We are aware of unexpected localised pipe bursts which are being attended to.”
Residents are asked to still use water only for essential needs, due to the added complexity of load shedding.
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“With worsening levels of load shedding this will help maintain the water pressure in your areas until the supply is normal,” said Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for water and sanitation.
The water might be discoloured or milky for a while due to trapped air in the pipes.
An outside tap can be opened to release the trapped air, and the water can be stored in a container for later use.
If all goes according to plan, water supply should start normalising by the early hours of Monday.
Areas that should still have no water are Pelican Heights, Peacock Close, and Schaapkraal. Water tankers will be stationed there.
Low pressure can be expected in Browns Farm/Philippi, Eagle Park, Grassy Park, Khayelitsha Site C, Hanover Park, Lavender Hill, Lotus River, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Muizenberg, Mxolisi Phetani, Ottery, Parkwood, Retreat, Seawinds, Steenberg, Strandfontein, Surrey Estate, Vrygrond, Wetton and Zeekoevlei.
“The City appreciates the patience of our residents during this very trying time. As we previously indicated, this shutdown operation is the first of its kind and extent in the city, and while every effort was made to ensure that our plans accounted for as many eventualities as possible, this unfortunate impact earlier experienced was entirely unexpected,” Badroodien said.
He also thanked the teams working on the huge operation.
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