AUGUST BEACH REPORT - St Francis Bay Residents Association

As per our phone call, I would like to record our thanks and congratulations to the stand-by team who repaired a burst water pipe overnight on the night of the 12 October.

At 11.30 p.m. our water in Shore Road went off (for the second time in one day!). I guessed that the repair which had been done to the water main outside Royal Wharf that day had failed, and went to investigate. What I found was that a second fracture had occurred, this time outside erf 667, at the junction of Sea Glades Drive and Canal Road. I contacted the Radio Control Centre, who promised to inform the stand-by team. We then went to bed, assuming that we would have a second successive day without water. When we awoke this morning, we were amazed to find that the break had been repaired overnight (in the rain!) and our water supply was back to normal.

In my view this was an exceptional piece of service, and we would like to thank those concerned. I am copying this to the Residents’ Association, with the recommendation that they award the team an “orchid” which we award for good service, and which is published on our website. We hear so much criticism of municipal service. It is refreshing to be able to report on such a positive response.

Having said that, I do not know whether the second break was in the same mains pipe as the one outside Royal Wharf. It may have been on the take-off to erf 667. If it was the mains, it is sending out warning signals that that pipeline is coming to the end of its useful life, and we may have to plan for its replacement in the near future. With the Christmas holiday season approaching, we cannot afford to have a faulty water main. I should be grateful if you will pass all of this on to those concerned.