Cape Town - There are rising concerns about water theft from fire hydrants by car washers, specifically to wash taxis in some areas of Cape Town.
Ward councillor Carmen Siebritz said, “The theft of water, to wash specifically taxis and at times light motor vehicles, has to be curbed, dealt with and condemned in the strongest terms.
“Water theft has an adverse impact city-wide, and as we know, it already costs the City millions to maintain, repair and replace infrastructure.”
Siebritz said she witnessed such activity at the Wynberg public transport interchange, as well as opposite the Hyde Road Primary School in Fairways, and added at times so-called homeless and unemployed persons were involved in washing vehicles at these points.
The owner of a legitimate car wash in Plumstead was annoyed to have informal car wash businesses syphoning water from fire hydrants, especially after the backlash car washing services faced from the City, when severe water restrictions were imposed in 2018.
Water and Sanitation acting Mayco member, Siseko Mbandezi said, “The City’s Water Inspectorate Unit has previously received complaints on this matter. The unit responds and acts accordingly by issuing Section 56 spot fines when someone is caught in the act.
“Where no one is caught in the act but there is evidence of tampering, resulting in water running to waste, the depot is notified and requested to shut the fire hydrant to prevent water wastage.”
While the water inspectorate unit enforced the City’s water by-laws, Mbandezi said fire hydrants needed to be accessible to the City’s Fire Department for firefighting purposes and thus fire hydrants could not be locked or access restricted.
Sandra Dickson, from lobby group Stop CoCT, said although they had not been approached by residents complaining about this, it happened and the lobby group would like to see what statistics the City had on water theft from fire hydrants.
Lotus River, Ottery, Grassy Park Ratepayers and Residents Association (Logra) committee member Ursula Goss said it was of concern if people stole water because the City would make up the loss of revenue by charging ratepayers more.
However, Mbandezi assuaged concerns and said the theft of water from fire hydrants did not have an impact on a customer’s account.