Rhodes University has approached the Office of the State President for assistance after large areas of Grahamstown have once again been left without water. Residents in some areas have reported outages since Monday 23 September.
Rhodes University has approached the Office of the State President for assistance after large areas of Grahamstown have once again been left without water. Residents in some areas have reported outages since Monday 23 September.
Makana municipality's Infrastructure and engineering director Thembinkosi Myalato told Grocott's Mail on Tuesday 1 October that the Howieson's Poort pump motor, which is around 50 years old, was taken to Johannesburg to be refurbished as it was giving them problems.
"The motor was taken to a service provider in Joburg because it was faulty, we also wanted that service provider to come and install it as a guarantee so that they can be liable when something goes wrong. We hope that after the motor is installed at Howieson's poort dam we can start pumping the water immediately," said Myalato.
"The process will probably delay and the filling of reservoirs will take time, our plan is to have water restored in all the areas at least by tomorrow [Wednesday 2 October]," he said.
Measures have been taken to resolve other issues, including a leaking water line and blocked filters.
Rhodes Executive Director for Infrastructure, Finance and Operations Dr Iain L’Ange said outages affecting the university since Wednesday are believed to have been caused by pumps malfunctioning at the Howieson's Poort dam pump station and the Waainek water treatment plant.
The city also experienced a power outage on Sunday 29 September.
"Given the urgency, the scope and the impact of the current situation, the executive management of the University this morning approached the Office of the State President for assistance with getting the 'log-jam' identified and cleared," read the latest statement from L'Ange on Saturday 28 September.
On Saturday afternoon, Rhodes officials received written confirmation from the Presidency that the issue had been addressed, and that barring unforeseen circumstances, a refurbished pump should arrive during the course of the weekend.
"I called seven numbers at the municipality," said a West Hill resident who asked not to be named. "Finally someone told me that the pump that was supposed to be installed over the weekend hadn't even left Joburg yet."
Only at midday on Monday did a notice from L'Ange announce that the pump motor had arrived and would be installed during the course of the day.
L'Ange also said that a leak has developed in the feeder system between Settler's Dam and Howieson's Poort dam.
An action plan published by Makana Municipality on Friday 27 September, by way of keeping residents up to date with the progress of repairs, anticipated that the water supply would have returned completely by the early hours of Monday 30 September.
But by Monday morning, many Grahamstown taps were still dry. Some Joza residents had been without water since Tuesday 24 September, and the West Hill resident reported a longer outage starting on Monday 23 September.
The municipal communications office said it was unable to give an estimate of when the water would return, because Makana's engineering department had contracted an external company to conduct repairs. They said the company had been busy with the repairs all weekend.
According to L'Ange, municipal officials anticipate that the water supply would be fully returned by Tuesday 1 October at the latest.
