Cape Town residents were asked on Monday to use water sparingly after the city’s main pipeline burst.
The pipe — 1,6m in diameter — feeds water to the city’s reservoirs from the Voëlsvlei dam, said City of Cape Town spokesperson Charles Cooper.
More than 30 years old, there are bursts on the pipeline every now and then, he said.
The most recent was close to the N7 in the vicinity of Vissershoek. Cooper could not say how much water was lost.
A technical crew has started replacing the section of pipe affected, he said.
”We have enough water in our reservoirs spread across the city and stocked by this pipeline,” Cooper said.
However, he appealed to residents of five suburbs to use water sparingly for the next 48 hours while the repairs are being done.
The affected areas are Tableview, Atlantis, Milnerton, Melkbosstrand and Duinefontein.
Homes will have enough water for normal household use and will probably not even notice any drop in water pressure because the reservoirs are still full, but should avoid watering gardens or washing cars –”anything that would consume a lot of water”, said Cooper. — Sapa