Midvaal Chief Whip appeals to residents to report water leaks
Midvaal has a strict principle to save water. Water leaks are given priority and strict action is taken against water thieves.
Alderman Phil C Pretorius, Chief Whip, Midvaal Local Municipality, writes:
Rand Water has everyone in Gauteng hot under the collar over water restrictions introduced by the province this past week. “Water-shedding” is the new term, just to raise the blood pressure that little bit more. While academics rage against global warming and the Trumpists deny it, dry parts of the world wither and others are ravaged by severe floods. Even where water is not scarce, it is “clean drinking water” that is the problem. Great was the need in the Western Cape’s Cape Town when DAY ZERO recently knocked on our door and much too close for comfort. Storing potable water that can satisfy the demand is the problem.
On DSTV’s Curiosity Channel, the documentary series The Butterfly Effect brings the problem into perspective. They explain how a series of decisions by the former Soviet Union left the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan crippled and, so to speak, dry. Through poor management, over-irrigation, canalization and damming, they have poisoned the little water that flows into the sea so that it is unusable and has brought the entire ecosystem to its knees. Food chains were disrupted and the climate was changed, the water table fell and was poisoned, the lifeblood of surrounding communities was destroyed and secret chemical weapons plants on islands were exposed as the house of cards collapsed.
Even though Midvaal is not immediately affected by the water restrictions, it is a warning that everyone must heed. It is not necessarily about the water level of the Vaal Dam at the current stage but about the capacity of the authorities to purify the water, transport it and keep the reservoirs full. With load shedding and other electricity problems, the reservoirs do not get time to fill up. The demand is too much to consider the water that is generated by the system as sufficient.
In Midvaal we have a strict principle to save water. Water leaks are given priority and strict action is taken against water thieves. Due to the nature of the water leak repair work, the system usually needs to be bled first to remove air before it can flow effectively again. This causes forced water losses that cannot always be recovered by storage tanks or other methods. We make a friendly, yet serious appeal to residents to report water leaks to the customer service center as soon as possible and also immediately pass them on to a council member and/or the relevant MMC, because Midvaal cares!
Proudly Midvaal
Kind regards,
Phil.
Web: www.midvaal.gov.za
Facebook: Midvaal Local Municipality and Midvaal News Network
Tel: 0861 643 8225
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