eThekwini Municipality dispels rumour of daytime water loadshedding

The eThekwini Municipality has poured cold water on claims it would be introducing daytime water loadshedding.

Speaking to Northglen News on Monday, the communications department confirmed a schedule being widely shared on social media, showing day-time shutoffs, was fake.

According to the City, this schedule being shared is fake. Picture: Northglen News

Instead, the City said it had implemented Stage 3 nightly shutoffs in all areas, which meant they would be without water for 11 hours. But if the water situation did not improve, the City would be forced to look at daytime shutoffs.

uMhlanga ward councillor Heinz de Boer said the water shutdowns would take place in 124 reservoirs across the City.

“The times for the daily shutdowns are now 7pm to 6am. This means all wards and all areas are affected. The City has admitted that not all areas are shut off currently because of technical issues.

“We urge residents to do everything they can to conserve water. We need to reduce consumption by 20 percent and need to do everything we can to save water. When members of the human settlements and infrastructure from the DA spoke to the head of water last week, no such schedule was ever presented,” he said.

ALSO READ: JHB Water to restrict overnight water usage despite recent rainfall

According to ward counicillor for Morningside in Durban Martin Meyer, different areas are affected differently.

“This is due to gravity, different areas are affected differently. When the water is shut at the reservoir, there are still thousands of litres of water in the pipes. As this water gets used, the levels go down. This means that people higher up run out of water first. As the levels drop, the people below gets affected.

“The opposite is also true. When the reservoir is opened, the pipes need to fill up first. This means people lower down will have water first. This unfortunately means people living higher up and closer to the reservoir are the first to lose their water and the last to get it back. Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent this,” he said.

– Caxton News Service

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