PRV covers still not replaced

In October last year, Ward 126 councillor Mike Tonkin complained about all of the missing Pressure Relieving Valves (PRV) covers that were stolen in his ward.

Following an inspection of the PRV covers in the area, Tonkin submitted a query to Johannesburg Water (JW) where he asked the entity to replace the covers in October.

Shadow spokesperson at JW Mopeli Puleng said in a comment in October, that the entity was aware of the issues with the stolen chamber covers in the area and said, “Our depot is addressing this issue as they have to order new steel checker plates.

Tonkin continued, “How long does it take them to order new steel checker plates as we have been waiting with three open PRV holes. These exposed PRV holes are so deep that a person will be injured seriously if he/she were to fall into one of these holes.”

The biggest exposed area is on the corner of Amarant Street and JG Strydom Road, where two covers that were supposed to cover one of the biggest holes, were stolen and ripped off the hole at the beginning of October. The second set of missing covers are located on the corner of Jim Fouché Road and Hyacinth Street. According to Tonkin, this amounts to four missing covers in his ward that need to be replaced by JW.

“I have heard rumours that the entity won’t be replacing the stolen covers with new covers,” said Tonkin. “Instead, they close the entire top half of the hole with concrete, this will however, make it very difficult for them to access the PRVs if there are any pressure related issues with the water supply in Weltevreden Park.”

Comment is still awaited from Johannesburg Water.