Between July 2024 and November 2025, the Directorate attended to an average of 346 water pipe bursts per month. Although the targeted repair time is two business days, teams immediately isolate the water supply once a burst is reported to minimise losses, with most bursts during this period resolved in less than half the expected turnaround time.

In certain instances, repairs may take longer. This can occur when bursts happen in high-risk areas, where work depends on the availability of Law Enforcement, or when complex technical repairs are required.

Burst pipes and water leaks differ in impact. Burst pipes cause a sudden and uncontrolled loss of water, often resulting in flooding and pressure drops that require immediate intervention. Leaks are often slow and less visible than bursts, but capable of wasting significant volumes of water over time through dripping pipes, damp patches or faulty plumbing if left unattended.

Despite these realities of bursts and leaks, the City continues to record the lowest levels of water loss among South Africa’s major metros, according to the National Department of Water and Sanitation’s No Drop Report (2023).

Proactive water saving interventions help lead to lowest non-revenue water losses among metros:

Leak detection is a team effort

The City’s proactive leak detection team plays a key role in water conservation and conducts visual inspections across the water reticulation network to proactively identify leaks.

During the 2024/25 financial year:

• 5 554km of the network was inspected, identifying 799 leaks, which were fixed.
• Daily operations teams attended to 22 693 leaks city-wide.

Water pipe replacement programme

During the 2024/25 financial year, the directorate replaced 69km of water pipes city-wide exceeding the target of 50 km.

Pressure management

The City’s active pressure management system is another key contributor to reducing water loss. By carefully controlling pressure and monitoring flows across approximately 280 pressure management zones, the City reduces pipe bursts, extends the lifespan of its infrastructure and rapidly detects abnormal water losses. This allows teams to intervene early and prevents small issues from escalating into major failures.

‘The City’s approach to managing water losses is deliberate, data-driven and continuous. Through active pressure management, dedicated leak detection and response teams working across the metro every day, we are reducing unnecessary water losses.

‘Residents can be confident that water losses are not left unchecked, but are actively tracked and addressed on a daily basis across the city. While our teams proactively inspect pipelines, we still need residents to report any leak they are aware of through the various channels.

‘Protecting our water supply is a shared responsibility, and every leak fixed and every drop saved strengthens the city’s resilience in the face of a changing climate and growing demand. We all need to be water wise at all times,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.

Published by:
Media Office, City of Cape Town