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Building on water pipes is 'risky'

10 Aug 2006

Rand Water and the City of Johannesburg have joined forces to find a solution to stop communities building on or near water servitudes. 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, formal and 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 R2,6m 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. - Emmanuel Mulaudzi

Article courtesy of City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za).

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Building on water pipes is 'risky'

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