RESIDENTS of Umlazi, Chatsworth, Northdene, and surrounding areas will experience low pressure or intermittent water supply from 5 to 11 July.

The is due to a leak in a pipe on Aqueduct 3 at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works in the vicinity of Annet Drive, Reservoir Hills, which has worsened over the past three months, from a drip to a constant flow that is visible to passers-by.

The high-pressure pipeline has been shut down by Umgeni Water for urgent repairs in the interest of public safety and to prevent further water loss.

It will take six days to complete the repairs, which includes a day for draining and drying of the inside of the pipe. The pipe will begin receiving water from 11 July.

Aqueducts 1 and 2, which were severely damaged in the April floods, remain decommissioned while awaiting the completion of repair work. Umgeni Water is using emergency shaft pumps intermittently to transfer water from Inanda Dam to the Durban Heights WTW.

On the five days when the shaft pumps are used, the full required volumes of raw water reaches the Durban Heights WTW for treatment; conversely, a deficit occurs in the remaining two days.