He can hear the incessant rush of water from his bedroom window.
The water is streaming out of the reservoir and has turned the surrounds into a marshland. Despite numerous calls to the municipality, precious little has been done about the situation said Sullivan.
A fortnight ago Sullivan contacted the George Herald, who in turn contacted Municipal Media Liaison Officer Chantel Edwards-Klose to ask what was being done to stop the enormous outpour of water.
On 18 March, Edwards-Klose said, "Any water wastage is a serious matter. The situation at the reservoir is attended to and should be rectified this week. The high pressure at that point is causing operational problems and has also been the reason for failures in the past. A long-term solution will be introduced to lower the pressure at the specific point.
"This will hopefully prevent the recurrence of these problems in the future."
Photos
On 28 March Sullivan sent photos of the current state of affairs. The water was still gushing out of the manhole. "The subcontractors were there to cut down some trees and bushes, and three bakkie loads of workers dug a big hole. On the other side of the reservoir, they pumped out water and then left.
"They obviously found the problem to be larger than they thought. They arrived at 13:00 and left at 13:15, so they did no work. Yes it (the reservoir) is still leaking (flowing is a better description). There is a pipe and valve on top that, before my first call, water was gushing out of the top. They turned the pressure down along the street somewhere and it lessened the noise, but this is still audible from my bedroom and garden.
"How much water was lost since before August last year? who knows; and the volume lost now? thousands of kilolitres. Contractors working on the repeater aerials for the council/police radio system stated that they reported this even before August. The reservoir is believed to be supplying water to Victoria Bay and Wilderness."
Solution
In an e-mail received on Wednesday morning, the George Municipality said, "We would like to confirm that the leakage has been repaired temporarily. The permanent reconstruction of the connection to the reservoir, where the leakage has occurred, is in process. The workspace was cleared by hand. The replacement fittings have been designed and are in the process of being manufactured. In the interim, the feed to the reservoir cannot be interrupted until the work is completed, as this reservoir provides water to both Wilderness and Victoria Bay."
This photo was sent in by a Victoria Bay Heights resident to show how big the reservoir is from where municipal water has been streaming for months on end.
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
