Joburg Water claim leak is ground water

JOBURG Water have claimed that the apparent leak on the corner of Coleraine Drive and Montagu Road is in fact ground water.

Residents and ward councillor Vincent Earp had become highly frustrated with a lack of action as water ran over the road for over five months, featured in Leak not fixed for five months, week ending 5 July. It was reported and escalated many times while the water caused damage to the road surface.

Joburg Water spokesperson Millicent Kabwe said, “The issue referred to is ground water. The maintenance team has been on site and has investigated this a number of times and found that this is ground water which is not related to Johannesburg Water. We have gone to the extent of testing the water at our laboratory and results confirmed it to be ground water.”

It was reported and escalated many times while the water caused damage to the road surface.

The Johannesburg Roads Agency would therefore be responsible for installing a drainage system so that the water does not flow over the road and continue to damage the surface. Earp said, “They have known about this for months and it is serious enough for them to prioritise it because of the damage and traffic congestion it causes and the danger to motorists. But the fact that it keeps running even in winter I find very strange. We haven’t had rain for months.”

Councillor for ward 117, Tim Truluck, has a number of ground water problems in his ward and he said it isn’t uncommon for ground water to run during winter. He said, “It’s because the ground is still saturated from summer. It all depends on how its fed, ground water doesn’t act like a river, its more like a sponge releasing the water slowly.” He added that addressing such issues takes time and money.