JOHANNESBURG – Government has conceded municipalities in the country lack the engineering capacity to stem escalating water losses.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who chairs the Water Task Team, says some municipalities were losing up to 40 percent of drinkable water through leaks due to ageing underground water pipes that urgently need to be replaced.
He conceded municipalities were currently responding too slowly to water leak perpetuating the crisis.
This, he said was because of shortage of skilled engineers to assist in programmes that will bring long-term solutions.
Mashatile and members of the task team assessed the water supply challenges across Gauteng last Friday.
“Some municipalities don’t have properly qualified engineers to do the work. That’s where we are intervening to make sure those people are appointed to help municipalities build capacity,” he said.
Mashatile said pump stations and the vulnerability in the reticulation networks compound the current water crisis.
“Municipalities need to maintain the infrastructure because the leakages are a big challenge. We must declare war on leaks to make sure that we save water. Our challenges are really in the municipalities as leakages are due to infrastructure that has not been refurbished,” the deputy president added.