Barbertonians face water rationing after poor rainfall

Scorching spring temperatures, coupled with a number of heatwaves over the past few weeks, have exerted pressure on the town’s already burdened supply, leading to water rationing over the weekend.

According to DA councillor, Phillip Minnaar, Lomati Dam, which is the town’s major water supply, has reached critical levels that necessitated the rationing.

“The situation in Umjindi has reached a perilous stage with the dam level on 16 per cent. In effect, this resulted in a limit of 30 per cent of daily use allowed to be purified.

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“This little available water is distributed throughout the entire Umjindi area,” he said.

Minnaar added that the high temperatures has seen a spike in the demand for water, which negates building up levels in the town’s reservoirs.

“To worsen the situation, it became impossible to implement the rationing schedule as the water department has to manage the distribution thereof on the availability in the respective reservoirs.

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“Water will not be available on a daily basis and it is not always possible to give time frames as to when it will be off or when it will be available again.”

He urged residents to source extra water from a number of boreholes in the municipal area, such as Barberton High School, Coronation Park and Church Street.

Water will only be available at Coronation Park and Church Street from next week, he cautioned. Other areas experiencing severe shortages include the Prison Farm, Kamadakwa and Emjindini Trust.

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Minnaar extended a plea to the department of correctional services and of public works to drill at least four more boreholes to ease the town’s water woes.

“They used to have 12 boreholes and only one, drilled by Mbombela, is working. This will help relieve the pressure.

“The water from Agnes Mine is not sufficient to tap into and is hardly enough to supply Kamadakwa and Emjindini Trust.”

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He singled out Fairview Mine and said it always assists with providing water to residential areas, even as it battles with its own consumption and needs.

Minnaar lambasted the City of Mbombela Local Municipality for seemingly keeping mum about the dire situation and called on the mayor to communicate with residents.

“We need to address these long-term needs now to prevent similar problems in the future. Correctional services and public works need to be pressurised to come on board immediately and take their responsibilities seriously.”

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He mentioned that water rationing had a drawback; the changes within the piping system place pressure stress on the pipes that weakens it over time, resulting in leaks and pipe bursts. This, in turn, leaves residents with sky high water bills.

“They are then billed for water they never received. CMLM should provide for standard credit to Umjindi residents to compensate for the excessive accounts,” Minnaar added.

He also called for law enforcement officials to be deployed to deal with errant residents who continue to flout rationing regulations and watering their gardens and washing their vehicles amid worsening drought conditions.

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“Transport, material availability and limited staff are major challenges faced by the department, taking into consideration that it also has to deal with sewer problems as well as normal maintenance and repairs,” he said.