ETHEKWINI Municipality has announced that it has been severely affected by the current drought and warned that residents and businesses will experience on-going interrupted water supply until there is sufficient rainfall.
Thulani Mbatha from eThekwini Municipality said weather predictions indicate there will be minimal rainfall in the next few months, thereby further depleting the available storage if residents don’t continue to save more water.
He said the municipality was committed to working with residents and businesses to prevent areas going without water for a long period of time. However, it was necessary to reduce water supply and demand in areas that are supplied by the Midmar and Albert Falls Dam systems.
He said this would be achieved by limiting water supply at night between 9pm and 4am in the morning to allow the reservoirs to fill up for the next day. This intervention started on Friday, 22 April.
“This dire situation requires all of us to change our daily water usage patterns. The water level at Midmar Dam has dropped to 46 per cent while Albert Falls Dam has reached a low of 34 per cent. Umgeni Water, which supplies water to eThekwini Municipality, has already started to reduce water supply in order to control the demand and usage patterns. This is very important because it will provide us with continued water supply. In this way we can ensure that water is available to consumers during the day. The Municipality will engage businesses and public facilities to ensure their operational plans are in line with the current water management plan,” he said.
Mbatha said the municipality is confident that this intervention would achieve the required water saving. However, if this was not achievable, an option of limiting water supply during the day would be considered.
Other initiatives by the municipality to achieve the saving of water include pressure reduction, installation of water meter restrictors, fines and penalties for those with high water usage.
“The drought is a reality. However, together we can successfully reduce the impact of the drought by changing our behaviour every day. It is possible to reduce the amount of water we use. We can all do it,” he said.
