Water supply interrupted due to theft

This follows a water interruption in Vanderbijlpark recently that was caused by the vandalism of a Pressure Reduction Valve (PRV) in Rabie Street, CE 6.

ELM’s Spokesperson Stanley Gaba says, “An unexpected water supply interruption occurred last week as a result of a vandalized PRV. This had a negative impact on the provision of water supply in Vanderbijlpark’s CBD, CW and CE areas.”

According to Gaba, the damaged valve rests on a main water supply pipe that feeds water to the Vanderbijlpark reservoirs.

“To repair the PRV, the main supply from Rand Water had to be shut down thus resulting in the drop of water levels in the reservoirs. There was no water in a number of areas within Vanderbijlpark area.”

Employees of the water services unit of ELM, Metsi-a-Lekoa are said to have fixed the leaking valve in a commendable time and re-established water supply to the reservoirs in just a little over 5 hours, which is a remarkable accomplishment given the nature and extent of the damage.

Gaba urges the community to work together with the municipality in order to combat the theft. “ These thefts are treated as a serious crime and thus the law will have to be applied accordingly to the perpetrators.”