Despite hopes by residents and promises by the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) that Louis Trichardt's water supply would be restored by Saturday, the town's taps remained mostly dry.
Louis Trichardt and surrounds have been without water for the whole of last week. This was due to a broken pump at the main pumping station at the Albasini Dam. VDM spokesperson Mr Moses Shivambu on Wednesday last week indicated that, should they be able to fix the pump, they would be able to resume pumping water to town later that same day.
This, however, did not happen after the VDM failed to repair the broken pump. "Our office has purchased a new motor which will be delivered on 6 April … so water supply will resume immediately after the installation of the new motor. Water tankering will be available. We apologize for the inconvenience caused. The affected areas include Louis Trichardt and Tshikota," said Shivambu on Thursday.
With the promises of a new pump, residents finally had high hopes of getting water by Saturday. Again this did not happen. "The motor at Albasini water plant has been fixed, but there was a pipe burst at Jacques Bouwer's farm along the road to Sunset Lodge … technicians are waiting for the cement to dry in order to stabilize the pipeline. Then pumping will resume tomorrow [Monday] early in the morning," said Shivambu on Sunday.
Again residents are hopeful that after more than a week of dry taps, water supply to Louis Trichardt will be restored to normal by today (Monday).