The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate responded to two severe pipe bursts in Hout Bay over the weekend, causing disruptions to the community’s water supply.
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On Saturday, 13 January 2024, shortly after 3am, a burst occurred on the 300mm Harbour Road water main, which supplies water to Northshore, Kronezicht, Hangberg, and Hout Bay Heights. The pipeline had to be shut down to allow for repairs.
Because of the intricate high-voltage cabling in the immediate vicinity of the repairs, manual excavation of the pipe was determined to be necessary. Unfortunately, this was a time-consuming and labour-intensive process.
A tree’s roots were discovered wrapped around the pipe, adding another layer of complexity. In order to access the pipe, the tree had to be uprooted, which added to the delays.
Despite these unexpected challenges, City staff worked tirelessly to remove the tree and clear the way for pipe repairs to begin at 10pm on Saturday evening.
Unfortunately, under the advisement of the City’s law enforcement, work was abruptly suspended due to safety risks when the team on site was pelted with stones.
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The team returned to install a new section of pipe on Sunday morning, and work resumed. All repairs had been completed by 7:30pm, but an unexpected second burst occurred on the Valley Road 300mm-diameter water main while the team was reinstating and filling the pipes
In order to excavate the pipe after the second burst, the supply from the Hout Bay Reservoir had to be turned off. This outage affected the entire Hout Bay area, including the areas that were previously affected on Saturday. Mount Rhodes, Suikerbossie, Ruyterplaats and Llandudno were also affected.
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