POLOKWANE – “There is just no good news at all,” says the DA’s Caucus leader for Polokwane, Frank Haas, on the dire water situation in the city.
Haas, on Tuesday, released a statement updating residents following a meeting with the Mayor, managers and the Chairman of Lepele Northern Water (LNW) along with some of their managers.
“Let me start by stating that under normal circumstances, with all water sources performing at optional capacity, the city is still at a water deficit,” his statement read.
Read more: The high-lying areas in Polokwane are as follows
According to Haas, Ebenezer dam was able to pick up the slack on water deficits in the past, but due to its current level and reduced pumping, it is unable to do so. He added that there are current upgrades being conducted at the Olifanstpoort Plant, which will give the city an extra 10Ml a day, however, it will only be completed by December.
“We will be keeping a close eye on the completition of the upgrade,” he noted.
The City relies mainly on LNW for water, due to limited water sources, and under normal circumstances, has access to 69Ml a day. However, due to drought, low dam levels and operational issues, there has been a further reduction of 26Ml, leaving the city in a deficit of 56Ml a day.
“This is nothing less than disasterous and the reason why our high lying areas are without water. There just isn’t back pressure to fill it,” he said.
Haas added that the city is busy upgrading boreholes on the sand river system, which will shortly provide an additional 2Ml a day.
“Issues such as pipe bursts, redundancy with regards to pumps and motors, constant power failures and vandalism by communities on the line were all issues taken up with LNW, which all have a serious impact on water supply,” he said.
In addition, the city is also in the process of purchasing additional water tankers to try and alleviate some pressure and Haas says it is unfortunate and practically impossible to have water delivered to every house via the tankers.
Councilor Franco Marx recently made a written proposal to the Water Director and his team of managers to utilise the live tracking function on Whatsapp and other social media which will enable residents to track the movements of the tankers.
“The proposal was positively considered and an undertaking was given to investigate these short term solutions,” Haas said.
In conclusion, Haas noted that he has requested for the city’s water supply to be shut down for 48 hours to allow reservoir levels to increase and provide relief for residents who have had no water for numerous days. “I’m still awaiting a response,” he said.
