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TECHNICAL
The Water Inspector is a friend
By Rajesh Raghubar , a representative of the eThekwini Municipality , reporting to the Water Inspectorate .
This is a copy of the talk delivered by Rajesh , with thanks to the eThekwini Municipality , at the recent Durban / KZN Plumbing Travelling Exhibition Workshop , supported by IOPSA .
eThekwini Water and Sanitation is unique in the sense that out of all the metros in South Africa we are one of three municipalities with have an active Water Inspectorate .
The Water Inspectorate comprises of a team of 7 water inspectors namely ,
• Thabane Ncanana ( Senior Inspector )
• Rajesh Raghubar ( Central )
• Eddie Puckaree ( North )
• Bongi Mkhize ( South Central )
• Dhirendra Naidoo ( South )
• Bongani Jali ( Inner West )
• Innocent Zondo ( Outer West )
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE WATER INSPECTOR ? Performs all such functions that ensure all water supply installation work done by private plumbers and contractors or organisations fall within the requirements of the eThekwini water and Sanitation Bylaw , Policies and Water Services Act .
Coordinates and controls processes associated with maintaining compliance with standards and by-laws in respect of water supply installation works through the provision of technical information andguidance on requirements , investigation of illegal connections , determination of appropriate courses of actions to enforce compliance , planning , scheduling and monitoring the execution of operational activities and administrative processes in order to ensure procedures and specific standards encompassed in regulatory and quality control frameworks are adhered to and appropriate remedial measures and action is implemented to curb non-conformance .
Non-conformance is measured against the Water Services Act , South African National Standards and Water Supply Bylaws .
• Monitoring the completion and submission of project progress reports through the various construction stages and , on final completion , analyzing contents to establish and confirm connection and installation conform to standards , and approved components are used .
• Responding and acting Rajesh Raghubar on complaints and queries from project supervisory personnel or project owner , establishing the applicability and making available relevant technical information relating to water supply and installation standards .
• Assessing installations against by-laws and quality standards prior to commissioning water supply and issuing certification or disapproving non-conforming installations .
• Participating in site meetings ( consultants , developers , fire department , and other stakeholder departments ) with a view of providing input into technical requirements and processes related to water supply , elaborating on and facilitating understanding of the approach .
• Making available technical information to address specific disputes relating to installations between contractor and owner , explaining standards and codes to verify or reject the work .
• Carrying out stock take and physical checks on contractors for the following : vehicles , safety equipment and clothing , as well as related administrative work , e . g ., time sheets and job cards .
• Setting testing standards and criteria for responsible plumbers .
© Plumbing Africa | Rory Macnamara
THE WATER INSPECTOR OFFERS ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT WITH REGARDS TO THE FOLLOWING - Applies technical procedures and applications to interpret and provide comments and guidelines on water supply and installation requirements , by :
• Coordinating processes based on the city engineers and fire department regulations to address applications received for supply and installations , connections , re-sites , and meter testing in respect of new or major developments .
• Interacting with consultants and developers and individual households with regards to the feasibility studies of connection or re-sites and the availability of water prior to commencement of projects .
MONITORING AND MAINTAINING COMPLIANCE Coordinated processes to assess the status of individual household , business , and informal settlements in respect of water installations , by
• Controlling the execution of on-site inspections and applying randomly selected areas to conduct a physical examination of connections and installations .
• Initiating investigations to address general non-compliance with Water Supply By-Laws and analysing identified deviations with a view to determining appropriate action for implantation based on procedure .
• Applying testing procedures to assess the competency and understanding of plumbers undertaking water supply installation
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline August 2023 Volume 29 I Number 6