City addresses increased water demand

THE eThekwini Municipality has met with the uMngeni-Thukela Water Board to discuss the water demand of the city. According to the City, the demand for treated water is exceeding the supply of treated water.

The municipality buys most of its treated water from the uMngeni Water Supply System and treats it so it meets drinking-water quality standards.

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The uMngeni-Thukela Water Board stores the treated water in bulk-storage reservoirs and supplies it to the eThekwini Municipality reservoirs. From there, the water is pumped and gravity-fed to households.

The City has stressed that the demand for water in eThekwini has grown rapidly due to population growth and partly due to increasing leaks in the municipality’s water distribution system.

The City is, therefore, implementing a range of interventions to drastically reduce its non-revenue water. It has implemented an active-leak detection and repair programme and a procurement process for a performance-based contract to detect and repair leaks.

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The municipality says it’s also implementing a programme which includes dysfunctional meter replacement, introducing technology to increase the accuracy of meter readings and improved billing and debtor management.

The City further stated that it will address the vandalism and theft of water infrastructure by replacing metal fittings with plastic fittings where possible and will also deploy security guards to critical infrastructure such as storage reservoirs and pump stations.

The municipality says it is appealing to the public to assist in looking after municipal infrastructure, which will, in turn, reduce water supply disruptions.

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