Muni implements drastic water restrictions with immediate effect

POLOKWANE – Drastic water restrictions were implemented with immediate effect after a visit to the city’s major source of water, the Ebenezer Dam, by a deputation from the Polokwane Municipality on Tuesday.

The use of municipal water for the purposes of gardening by means of either a hose pipe or irrigation system, washing of paving and open areas in residential areas as well as by business and industry by means of a hose pipe is prohibited without exception; consumption by business and industry for the washing of vehicles and/or equipment is limited to registered car wash businesses only and all illegal car washers are prohibited without exemption, while the watering of all municipal parks and gardens which are not supplied with borehole water is suspended immediately and the use of borehole water for residential and industrial gardening is prohibited.

In a media release issued after the visit, the municipality explained that with the Ebenezer Dam’s water level at around 13% of its capacity, it was expected that Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) will only be able to abstract water from the dam up to September if no drastic measures were taken. The Department of Water and Sanitation recently advised that the Ebenezer Water Treatment Plant must operate at a reduced 36 Ml/day from 44 Ml/day in order to extend the pumping period up to October. There is no guarantee that the available water will be available until the next rain season.

“Judging by the rate of increase in water levels at Ebenezer Dam during the previous rainy season, the dam may not be a reliable source of water moving forward. This means there is an immediate need to reduce abstraction from Ebenezer Dam even in future to protect the source. This drop in the dam level and the restriction on abstraction has resulted in water supply to the city being reduced from 21 Ml/day to 10 Ml/day.

Water supply to Mankweng will be reduced from 9 Ml/day to 5 Ml/day and water supply shared by regional water schemes will be reduced from 9 Ml/day to 4,4 Ml/day. The situation at Ebenezer Dam will have a serious impact on water supply to all areas,” the statement reads.

The municipality says groundwater development is given the highest possible priority under the circumstances.

“So far, identification and exploration of all bulk ground water resources within the boundaries of the city have been completed as part of the the Water Master Plan which was completed in October last year. Condition assessment of the existing ground water systems within the city boundaries in terms of their stage of functioning and their adequacy is complete.”

A thorough yield analysis of all the existing and newly identified bulk ground water supply resources was done and additional boreholes were drilled where identified. The city is hard at work laying pipes and water treatment plants to gain access to the ground water by March 2021.

“In order to reduce the amount of water consumed by the rural area of supply, water rationing for all the regional water schemes connected to the Ebenezer scheme will be effected and water restrictions will be implemented with immediate effect.”

It is expected that reliance on water tankers will grow during this period. Among others, to ensure that there is preparation for service continuity when the DWS water tankers are terminated, Polokwane Municipality has set aside a budget to drill and equip strong aquifers for increasing draw-off points for the trucks, procurement of own water tankers and to complete the refurbishment of boreholes and linking them to the regional water schemes,” the statement concluded.