Makokoba houses flooded as water pipes burst

MAKOKOBA residents spent the early hours of yesterday on their feet after their houses were flooded by water gushing from a burst main water pipe in the area.

The pipe burst occurred in one of the houses on Third Street at around 1am, with water flooding several yards in the area while some spilled into houses.

When a Chronicle news crew arrived in the area yesterday morning, some of the residents were still scooping the mud that had spilled into their houses.

Others were busy watering their gardens with water that had collected in basins.

Some residents were also queuing for water at a community borehole after council workers temporarily cut off supplies to the whole suburb in order to attend to the burst pipe.

Residents said it took more than five hours for council workers to close off the pipes to stop the water.

"We were fast asleep when this pipe burst at around 1am. We only heard the sound of water gushing out and flowing along the drain. Council workers only came after 7am," said a woman who identified herself as MaMoyo.
The residents challenged the city council to replace its ageing infrastructure in order to save water.

"We are tired of these rampant water pipe bursts. The council always complains of water problems but a lot of it is lost through burst pipes. We do not know who is paying for that," fumed another resident who preferred anonymity.

"Our property is under threat if this continues to happen. When I woke up around 3am I thought the whole house would be wiped by the deluge."

Gogo MaMkwananzi said she lost her sleep because of the water that had spilled into her house.

"Vele asilalanga mntanami (we could not sleep). I heard the noise outside but I was afraid of being attacked by robbers and could not immediately go outside.

"The whole neighbourhood was up and at last I went out and found people scattered around trying to put ridges to stop water from getting into their houses.

"Others were busy filling their buckets and other containers. I also joined them because the water was flowing in all directions," she said.

The council has acknowledged that its water reticulation infrastructure was dilapidated with its director of engineering services Engineer Simela Dube recently reporting that the local authority recorded between 65 to 80 percent increase in water leakages and pipe bursts in 2011 compared to the previous years due to its ageing infrastructure.

Eng Dube called for a significant investment to replace the dilapidated water infrastructure, which has been blamed for the loss of millions of cubic metres of treated water. The city council collects about $4,5 million from water levies. Last year in October the local authority revealed that it was losing 40 percent of its treated water through leakages and burst pipes.