Blocked sewer builds up a stink
MORNINGSIDE - Resident, Yvonne Dannheisser was forced to ask a friend to look after two of her dogs after a blocked sewer flooded her garden.
She said, “I can’t keep my dogs around this mess. They’ll become terribly ill.”
Dannheisser first reported the incident to the City of Johannesburg. “The municipality had no interest in helping me,” she said. “I spoke to someone who told me that I should wait 24 hours before I get assistance. The stench was unbelievable. With the wind blowing, the smell went straight into the house.”
She said Joburg Water personnel finally arrived at her house to assess the sewer blockage. “They came to my house twice to fix the blockage but nothing was ever fixed,” added Dannheisser. “No one knew where the blockage came from. They kept poking at the sewer with their wires and that was it. There was so much water coming out and the stink was terrible.”
Frustrated, Dannheisser found a company that was able to assist her. She said, “They sent their people who arrived with all their equipment and they lifted the soil to get to the blocked pipe. They removed all the stones and rubbish that was in there and the pipe was cleared.”
Millicent Kabwe of Joburg Water said, “We are attending to the query. Please note that we do not have record of this complaint being logged previously.”
Ward 103 councillor Vincent Earp suggested that residents with similar complaints should contact 011 688 1699
011 688 1699 for a speedy response from Joburg Water. He explained, “This number is for Joburg Water’s internal call centre at their head office. Residents can call the number and get a reference number.”
Earp added that if nothing had been done about their complaint, residents could contact Joburg Water Zandfontein depot on 011 531 9522011 531 9522 and give their reference number. “The complaint will then be escalated to the depot operations manager then the general manager of operations,” said Earp. “This line of action normally resolves the issue.”
Have you experienced a similar lack of service delivery from Joburg Water? Let us know if Joburg Water’s internal call centre assisted you with any of your queries by tweeting @Sandton_News and using #servicedelivery
I have had sewerage backing up into my garden in Ferndale for YEARS now. It has taken Joburg Water up to 4 days to clear the blockage, sometimes it happens again the next day, and they rarely clean the mess. This is a major health hazard for me but nothing ever gets fixed properly.