Water tankers’ wheels continue to roll

POLOKWANE – Water struggles are likely to continue throughout the week.

Over the weekend, Review reported that Lepelle Northern Water experienced electrical challenges on their Ebenezer supply line but that supply had been restored and pumping resumed.  

The challenges have, however, continued into the week – indicated by another municipal statement earlier this morning (November 8).

“The Polokwane Municipality will continue to provide temporary relief in the form of water tankers to areas experiencing water shortages. LNW’s Ebenezer Scheme is experiencing constant electrical challenges resulting in the scheme not pumping to Polokwane for several hours. On Sunday night, Lepelle Northern Water notified the municipality of yet another water supply stoppage at Ebenezer due to ‘uneven electricity reliability’ as there was ‘thunder and lightning’,” Selala explained.

He said the Olifantspoort line at some stage last night, was also not supplying to Polokwane due to more ‘electrical challenges’ at pump station 3.

“As of this morning, most reservoir levels are at their lowermost, sitting at 0%. It is by this reason that Polokwane Municipality urges customers receiving supply to use water sparingly,” he added.

Selala could not confirm whether Eskom’s implementation of Stage 2 load-shedding, until Saturday, will have an impact on water supply and contribute to ‘electrical challenges’.

LNW media liaison officer Yolande Nel in January said: “Load-shedding further affects operations and production in general.”

At the time she was questioned about challenges experienced at their plants. We are currently in the rainy season and more problems can be expected as made evident earlier this year when Nel said the quality of water is a seasonal challenge and “expected during flood conditions”.

“Flooding at the Olifantspoort Scheme catchment area results in the quality of raw water being very poor and complex to treat, affecting the quality of water to be supplied by the plant. The plant thus yields less supply, but this situation is expected to improve as the raw water quality improves,” she explained earlier.

Nel was requested for comment again on the current challenges and said it should be noted that processes have been put into place over the past 10 months. She said the matter will be followed up and that a response will follow in due course. 

As received at 13:56:

Nel explained that the current ‘electricity challenges’ at the Ebenezer Scheme are mainly attributed to load-shedding that affects the output from the plant. “The interruption of service is further being caused by electricity cuts brought about by strong wind and thunderstorms characteristic of the rainy season. Upon electricity supply to the facility becoming affected, power failures immediately get reported to the relevant department of the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality, which promptly responds to calls for assistance,” she said.

Nel reiterated that during periods of heavy downpour or flooding, high turbidity levels are expected. “Considering the delivery of bulk water services to Polokwane, it needs to be noted that already service delivery from Olifantspoort Scheme was affected on Friday when output had to be reduced due to increased turbidity levels following heavy rains,” she concluded.

The municipal water and sanitation helpline can be contacted on 015 023 5376 / 5629.