Wasting water in a thirsty Mtubatuba
Constant leaks from the pipe at a water supply station in Mtubatuba have now been fixed.
WATER. A precious resource, crucial for sanitation and survival, in drastically short supply yet wasted by irresponsible distributors and consumers.
The water shortages in Mtubatuba Municipality are no secret. Mtubatuba, KwaMsane, Nordale, Dukuduku, Khula Village and St Lucia experience frequent outages, sometimes for weeks at a time, yet when it is available, wastage is rife.
A Mtubatuba resident witnessed such wastage at a tanker filling station on the outskirts of the town in December. Water leaks constantly from the overhead pipe at the filling station, leading to small lakes of water beneath the pipe.
While water may not be pouring out of the pipe, the permanence of the leak results in a large amount of water being wasted.
Tanker operators further compound the issue when they do not align the supply pipe to the tanker input hole correctly when transferring water to the tanker.
‘This is a disgrace in an area where water is in such short supply,’ said a concerned Mtubatuba resident.
After contacting uMkhanyakude District Municipality for a comment, Spokesperson Mdu Dlamini investigated the problem. Dlamini later confirmed the company responsible for water distribution by tanker had fixed the leak by replacing a valve.
