Cape Town - Residents of suburbs across Cape Town have been warned to expect water supply disruptions from tomorrow night (Wednesday), continuing up to next week Wednesday (May 10), as a result of essential maintenance work.
Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the City regretted any inconvenience caused, but the work was necessary and could not be avoided.
Among the first neighbourhoods to be affected will be the northern suburbs of Vredenberg, Bellair, Belair, Oakglen, La Rochelle, Blomtuin and Blommendal, where the City will be carrying out zero-pressure tests, step tests and conditional assessments.
Badroodien said this would cause intermittent disruptions to the water supply, as well as low water pressure at times in these areas.
This would occur overnight from 9pm to 11am on Wednesday/Thursday (May 3/4) and 9pm to 11am on Thursday/Friday (May 4/5).
According to the City, the zero-pressure testing and step testing are part of an installation process for pressure management technology.
The tests are done in advance to see if any unmapped inflows need to be considered before installing pressure-reducing smart valves.
Residents of the affected areas may experience low water pressure, and some may, at times, have no water at all during the overnight testing period.
The City said: “It is not possible to predict which areas or streets will experience disruptions.”
Tomorrow, May 3, from 10am to 3pm, pipe and valve installations, repairs and replacements will take place in the Bakkerskloof area in Lynn’s View, Somerset West.
The City said a water meter needs to be urgently inserted on the main water supply pipeline to the Bakkerskloof area.
This will result in disruption of water supply to the area, but will allow the maintenance team to do the meter installation safely.
The City said an alternate water supply would be arranged, which would result in lower water pressure.
Meanwhile, people in the Bellville CBD, Triangle Farm, Bellville South, Labiance, Greenlands, Glenhaven and Stikland areas will have their water shut off from 7pm on Tuesday, May 9, until 4:30am on Wednesday, May 10.
This will allow the City to replace faulty control valves on the main water supply to these areas.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za