By Seleoe Nonyane
Residents of Ha Matala Phase II in Maseru have fired a broadside at the Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) over the nuisance of continually broken water pipes, which results in loss of valuable water.
WASCO shifted from the traditional steel to the uPVC (a type of plastic) piping just over seven years ago. However, poor workmanship has seen the fragile uPVC pipes suffer recurrent breakages, leading to constant leakages.
Wasco has previously justified the shift to uPVC by stating that steel piping does corrode with time, and that the World Health Organisation Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality promote the protection of public health by advocating for the development of locally relevant standards and regulations (health-based targets).
“These guidelines address many aspects including acceptability aspects: taste, odour and appearance. Water should be free of tastes, odours and aesthetically acceptable. Corroded pipework produces ‘rust water’: the red or brown colour of rust in water is unattractive and makes the water look dirty and therefore non-adherent to WHO quality standards and guidelines. Corroded pipework also cracks and becomes brittle, which makes it susceptible to pipe bursts, resulting in water loss and interruption of supply.
“Therefore, the current standards and practices, worldwide, has seen a move towards the use of PVC piping for reticulation. This speaks to proper supervision of works, whether done internally or by external contractors: supervision and adherence to installation standards and correct material specification.”
Residents who spoke to this publication said that the uPVC pipes get damaged frequently and after a short period of time, but Wasco always fails to act promptly.
They said this affects them negatively as some households actually go for days without water supply, until such time that the water utility responds to the problem.
The villagers also demand for a permanent solution.
One of the residents of the area, Thebe Tiheli, said the water leakage had occurred more than 10 times in a matter of eight months.
“When I realised that the pipes are damaged I made WASCO aware of the situation. They just asked for directions and never came to fix the problem. I recently took it upon myself to fix the pipes because water had been leaking out of the pipes for days and affecting the supply to my household. When I fixed them it was day nine after water gashed out of the pipes.
“This was the second time I fixed the pipes due to WASCO not showing up on time to repair them. Therefore, the maintenance of the pipes has now become my monthly job because big vehicles such as trucks using the road will definitely temper with the pipes as the road is narrow.
“Fixing the pipes has cost me M5 000 so far,” he revealed.
Another resident, Tholang Matsipa, claimed the pipes have been damaged for quite some time now. She said repairing the devices has become the order of the day.
“Although I cannot count the number of times that water comes bursting out of the pipes, this has happened so many times that I have lost count. We have come to accept that this is our way of life.
“Whenever the breakage happens we always notify the company, although we know that help will only come weeks later.
“For now, the pipes have been fixed. I know that a few months down the line we will be faced with the same problem again,” Matsipa said.
In response, WASCO’s public relations officer Lineo Moqasa acknowledged cognizance of the problem which she said is not unique to the Matala, but is rather widespread.
Moqasa blamed the recent heavy rains which have left water pipes are exposed above the ground.
She urged the community to arrange a meeting with WASCO’s management so that their complaints can be fully addressed.
“The residents of Ha Matala Phase II should write a letter addressed to the chief of Wasco and delegate a community member to represent them.
“Wasco will arrange a meeting with the representative and the details on how they will move forward will be addressed,” Moqasa said.
She said some cases are special as they require other affected departments to intervene, such as road departments.
She said the company loses lots of money to the breakages, especially in the light of the fact that the water is treated before it is used by consumers.
