Although Witbank Dam is filling up, water restrictions are still in place.
The local municipality is safeguarding this precious commodity because they still have to release 4% of the water in terms of their obligations to the upkeep of the Olifants River system. The technical team is looking at when this should be done. Looking at the current rainfall they will, most likely, open the sluice gates later this month.
“We will be communicating on any changes about the water restrictions as soon as we are comfortable that we have built up sufficient reserves for the next season,” said the Municipal Manager, Mr Theo van Vuuren.
On Tuesday, January 10 Witbank Dam increased to 86%.
With the inflow being positive the dam should pass the 80% mark this week. Rietspruit Dam is also full.
This past weekend was wet and the greater Emalahleni region as well as the catchment areas in Bethal and Hendrina, that feed the Olifants River, had good rain.
Dave Jarvis from Kriel Golf Club was not sure whether he should go fishing or golfing after the recent good rains. But being a jack-of-all-trades he assured us it was no problem getting this golf ball out of the water.
Mr Dries Bothma, a local resident who collects rain data said he measured 15mm on Saturday, January 7, 35mm on Sunday and on Monday he measured another 7mm.
Shifting the focus back to taps, the municipality is concerned about the current supply from Anglo’s reclamation plant that remains far below the required 16ML per day.
“The reasons for this are stated as low ground water in the mines. However, we will be meeting with the suppliers soon to try and correct this situation as it impacts negatively on Point B, as many of you have experienced over the past two months,” Van Vuuren said.
He said work on increasing the package plant to 20ML per day will commence soon and that will provide welcome relief.
“We have already paid R12.5 million towards the expansion and will be receiving the supply at a price comparable to our own purification costs therefore it will not impact on the price of water. Work on the reservoirs and pipeline to link the new reclamation plant at Ogies to our reservoirs which will finally resolve the Ogies, Phola, Wilge and Clewer problems in respect of capacity and consistency of supply are also set to be completed during the first half of this year. However, the cost of this water will be much higher than our current costs and we are still doing financial modelling to ensure water remains affordable,” he said.
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