Nine days without water: Pinetown residents struggle amid supply crisis

Residents have gone nine days without water supply in Durban’s inner-west surburbs of Ashley and Pinetown. Some Pinetown residents have gone nine days without a water supply to their taps, and some are resorting to using water from their pools to flush toilets and bathe. These were some of thechallengesin Ashley and the surrounding Pinetown suburbs on Saturday, as residents turned to community WhatsApp groups to express their outrage.

Concerned resident Mitchell Harrison explained that the area had experienced low water pressure, and some roads had been without water for nine days. He said faults were logged, plumbers came out, but then left and allegedly reported to their manager that the job was completed. Harrison said residents were frustrated that a water tanker had been provided to the ratepayers in the interim, addingthat some schools had to close and make alternative plans for water.

“People have reported that thewatercomes back into the pipes at night with very low pressure, and by the morning, it is empty. With low water pressure, we can live. I had plumbers measure one bar of pressure in the pipes. At different times, some roads have water and others don’t,” he said.