Gauteng residents consuming ‘too much’ water, says Mchunu

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has raised concerns about water consumption in Gauteng.

According to Mchunu, Gauteng residents consume up to 300 litres of water per person per day – far above the average of 173 litres worldwide.

Mchunu revealed this in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday evening.

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He said while the department while the department was addressing the shortage of water in the country, water consumption also needed to be kept in check.

Water infrastructure

Mchunu further raised concerns over the provision of infrastructure, saying it the national department, Rand Water and municipalities upgrade their infrastructure, particularly the storage of water and also close the leaks, which are around 20-25% in Gauteng, “we will be able to provide reliable water and from there we can address other efficiencies including quality of water including covering everyone”.

“But there is another impediment which we pointed out which is a situation where the government in the housing sector has not developed a system to allocate people properly in terms of sites, except in the established townships,” said Mchunu.

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“Informal settlements are expanding on a daily basis without any order or planning. Even if we reach higher levels of efficiency, in terms of providing water as we are doing with the kind of investment that is being done by Rand Water for the next two years, we are just dealing with a shifting target and we will not be able to catch up with the deficit.

“Municipalities agree they need to reach higher efficiencies with closing leaks, supplying water and ensuring people see their cries are being heard.”

Rand Water investment

According to Mchunu, Rand Water will invest R28 billion for the construction of reservoirs in Gauteng by 2028.

“This is contribute to increasing the number of reservoirs in Gauteng from 62 to 72, which is quite commendable when considering that these are just Rand Water reservoirs alone. Municipalities are also building their own so that our storage of water in the whole of Gauteng increases. They have started, it’s a process that has already started and will be able to supply more 7000 mega litres per day.”

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Mchunu called on residents to use water sparingly, saying the fact that dams are filled does not mean water should be wasted.